Imran Khan's party demands probe into funding of political parties in Pakistan

Islamabad: A leading Pakistani opposition party, facing charges of receiving funds from unauthorised means, on Tuesday demanded scrutiny of the accounts and funds of all political parties, specifically the religious parties, accusing them of receiving funds from Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The demand was made by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which is defending a case in the Supreme Court on receiving donations from abroad.

A similar case has been registered against the party in Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Tehreek-e-Insaf spokesman Fawad Chaudhry claimed that the party has submitted complete record of funds and accounts as well as a list of all donors to the apex court, Dawn reported.

He said now it was the turn of other political parties, including the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and religious parties, to disclose their sources of funds.

"We have presented our record. We hope that the Election Commission of Pakistan and other institutions will now ask (about the source of funding) from other parties," he said.

He said that instead of treating overseas Pakistanis with suspicion, secret agencies and other institutions should probe "funding of the PML-N and religious parties with keen eye".

Chaudhry, who is one of the legal advisers of PTI chief Khan, alleged that Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) had been receiving funds from Libya whereas there were parties which received funds from Saudi Arabia and Iran.

He said his party had been asked to provide details of its accounts and funds only for the period between 2010 and 2013, but they had submitted the seven-year record till March 2017.

He also claimed that the party had submitted the list of more than 30,000 Pakistanis living in the US who had contributed to the party funds.

Over the past seven years, he said, the party had received more than USD 3 million and all transactions had been made through "official banking channel".

He said that under the US laws, individuals could not donate funds directly to parties, so the PTI had to hire services of "agent companies" for the purpose.

Chaudhry said all members of the board of governors of these companies were overseas Pakistanis and their details had also been provided to the apex court, adding that 99 per cent of the donors had donated between USD 10 and USD 15.

He said the PTI did not have big donors like Osama bin Laden who, he alleged, had provided billions of rupees to the PML-N.

PTI secretary general Naeemul Haq claimed that the party had not violated any law of the country while receiving funds from abroad.

He said the party had also submitted to the court details of the accounts of other political parties so that it could make a comparison.