Web Desk (LTN NEWS): Imran Khan, who used to be prime minister and is now the head of the PTI, said on Thursday that his party got money from companies in 2012, but a law made in 2017 says that this is illegal, so no law has been broken.
He told his party members in Islamabad’s F9 Park who were watching a live video that this wasn’t a case of money from abroad.
He explained what foreign funding meant by saying that, according to the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), donations from Pakistanis living abroad are foreign funding.
Khan said that
The head of the PTI called for a “peaceful protest” outside the ECP headquarters in the federal capital today. This was in response to the ECP’s decision in the case of the party’s illegal funding.
The leader of the party had first asked supporters to hold a “peaceful protest” against CEC Raja outside the ECP headquarters, but the coalition government told them they couldn’t go into the Red Zone, so the protest was moved to F9 Park.
“They’ve turned Islamabad into a fortress. Why?” he asked, adding that the federal capital was shut down right away.
Everyone has the right to protest, according to the constitution, and the former prime minister said, “We [PTI] have always tried to protest in line with the constitution and the law.”
Read More: Imran Khan appeals to Public to gather at F9 Park for protest against ECP
Khan said that when the PTI came to power, the economy was bad and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“Our government handled both tough situations well,” he said, but he was sad that the PTI’s government was still removed from power because of a scandal.
“They thought that PTI was done”
Khan went on to say that the coalition parties thought the PTI was dead because of their “conspiracy” after the no-confidence motion.
“However, they were wrong, because, on May 25, people went out into the streets. I will never forget how many PTI supporters showed up,” he said, remembering how the coalition government tried to stop them by making them afraid.
Khan said that when 20 by-elections were held in Punjab on July 17, coalition parties thought it would be easy to change the results. However, despite their best efforts, they lost the elections.
“They always use state institutions to rig elections, and the election commission is one way to keep people in line,” he said, adding that coalition parties are afraid people will turn against them.
The PTI chairman said this about the party’s efforts to bring in the Election Voting Machine (EVM) “Our party has been trying for the last two and a half years to bring in EVMs because they can stop 130 out of 163 ways that elections can be rigged.
“Two political parties and the election commission worked together to stop EVMs from being used,” he said.
The leader of the PTI said that people are selling their consciences, but the election commission “chose to keep quiet.”
Concerning the foreign funding case’s verdict, he asked how a political party could work without money.
“Political parties were started by a number of smart people, but they couldn’t do their jobs without enough money,” he said.
He called the two parties “mafias” and said that they had enough money. PTI, on the other hand, had trouble getting money and stayed at a small party for several years.
Read More: PTI announces a protest against the ECP, the red zone seal
“I used to raise money for Shaukat Khanum Hospital, and the same people said they wanted to donate to the party funds as well,” Khan said, adding, “Why don’t these two political parties raise money?”
“Both political parties are based on money, but we have 40,000 donors,” he said, complaining that the ECP didn’t listen to these two parties’ funding cases.
Khan puts to rest rumors about the FT report
Khan said that the ECP verdict said that the money came from Wootton Cricket Ltd, whose owner is Arif Naqvi. This was in response to the Financial Times report.
“We took money in 2012, and charges were filed against us in 2018,” he said, making fun of those who had filed a case against PTI’s funding.
The head of the PTI said that his party got the money in 2012 from two dinners that Naqvi had set up to raise money.
“The ECP says that the money that Pakistanis living abroad raise is illegal. They call it funding from outside the country. Tell me, if this money comes from outside the country, what about money sent for things like earthquakes and floods
“The ECP is almost saying that money sent from Pakistanis living abroad will be seen as money from outside the country,” he said.
PTI protested in front of the ECP office
Early this morning, PTI lawmakers gathered outside the ECP headquarters in Islamabad. They did this in response to Khan, who had asked people to protest against the election body and the CEC. They did this even though the district administration had said that protests were not allowed in the Red Zone.
Protesters with signs climbed over barbed wire that was put up to keep people out of the area. They had a brief run-in with the police, who were able to get rid of them.
Outside the office of the ECP, the parliamentarians called for the CEC to step down.
