Opposition parties in Pakistan hit out at Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan after the country’s top election body said that the ruling party, the PTI, grossly underreported funds received from foreign nationals and firms. The party had concealed donations worth $1.7 million, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said in its report.

Calling the report of the Election Commission “damning indictment”, two main opposition parties have urged the apex court and the Election Commission to proceed against Khan-led PTI. Over the past several years, Prime Minister Khan has carefully built his public image as an anti-corruption crusader. However, the latest report by the ECP is nothing less than a jolt.  

Prime Minister Khan often targets his opponents over corruption and calls for transparency into political fundings. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was forced to resign in 2017 after the conviction in a controversial trial in the Supreme Court, has been one of his top targets of Khan’s anti-corruption plank.

On Wednesday, hours after the damning report, Sharif, who is currently staying in the UK, said, “Finally, Mr Clean ( PM Khan)  has been exposed as a corrupt and dishonest political conman. And the other dishonourable man who declared him Sadiq & Ameen to engineer my ouster has already been heard admitting his crime. Divine justice is done, only the legal one remains to be seen & done.”

Another PML-N leader, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, said, “We expect from the ECP and the SC, which had previously used its suo motu powers, that they will take notice of it [the report].”

Abbasi, also a former prime minister who comes from Nawaz’s party, asked that if the apex court could send a government packing and disqualify a sitting prime minister ( a reference to Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification ), why can’t it now question a sitting prime minister who wasn’t ready to disclose party fundings worth millions.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the leader of the PPP, said, “The ECP report proving PTI foreign funding is a damning indictment not only of the party’s corruption but exposes their hypocrisy. Simultaneously, tax records reveal @ImranKhanPTI income has increased more than 50 times since gaining power. Pakistan has become poorer but Imran is richer.”

The report by the ECP said between 2008 to 2013, the party had disclosed funds to the tune of PKR 1.33 billion (roughly  $7.5 million) to the ECP, whereas a report by the SBP, the central bank of Pakistan, shows the actual amount to be PKR 1.64 billion (roughly $9.2 million).

The report further added the party also failed to disclose details of three banks in the documentation provided to the Election Commission. The report stated that around 1,414 companies in Pakistan, 47 foreign companies, and 119 potential companies provided funds to Mr. Khan’s PTI.

It had also received $2.3448 million as funds from the U.S., but the committee couldn’t access the party’s U.S. bank accounts, the report said.

 (SAM)