Banned Funds: Political Implications of ECP Decision
Wednesday, August 03, 2022
Finally, after a long wait of eight years, the ECP took up the prohibited funding case filed against the PTI on the complaint of Akbar S Babar, one of the founding members of the party.
It seems that the ECP's decision did not live up to the expectations of some political observers who believed that the PTI could be disbanded and its legislators and leadership disbanded if indeed the banned funding was established. may be disqualified. As a result, PTI is claiming the victory of its position. Regardless, the fact that the order passed by the ECP is as bad for PTI as it can be is within the purview of Section 6(3) of the Political Parties Order, 2002 under which the complaint was filed. .
Under the law, all the ECP was required to do was to determine whether the PTI had received funding from prohibited sources - and if found, whether the ECP had received such prohibited funds. Provision should be made for confiscation of funding proceeds. ECP did exactly that. It clearly established that PTI had indeed received funding from prohibited sources and that these prohibited sources included local prohibited sources such as companies based in Pakistan and foreign sources of funding. - Both individuals and companies.
The ECP's order actually went a step further and described the certificates signed by PTI Chairman Imran Khan quite bluntly while he submitted five years of annual audited statements of party accounts. Which has been described as "extremely wrong". The ECP order also said that the party had concealed eight of its bank accounts, which were operated by its senior leadership. According to the order, this is a violation of Article 17 (3) of the Constitution. These are some serious allegations and could have serious consequences if proven.
Most importantly, the ECP order has given the federal government a basis to take the allegations of funding from foreign sources to the next level using Chapter III of the Political Parties Order, 2002. Federal Government, if it is satisfied with the evidence. Provided in the ECP order, it has to declare that PTI is a 'foreign-aided political party' as defined in the PPO 2002 and forward the declaration to the Supreme Court within 15 days. Will be.
If and when the Supreme Court upholds the declaration made by the federal government against the PTI, the party will, as per Section 15(3), "dissolve". This comes with very serious consequences such as the de-seating of the party's current federal and provincial legislators. If the members do not separate from the party, they will be disqualified from contesting elections for the next four years.
The ECP order also allows any citizen to approach the courts and plead for disqualification of Imran Khan for signing the certificate which the ECP order termed as "grossly incorrect". Is. In fact, the document signed by the PTI chairman is not an affidavit and hence one can legally be involved in splitting hairs here - but the reality is that if any statement signed by the party chief is found to be false. If it does, then it can result. Adverse consequences for the party chief
All these doomsday scenarios are mentioned because if the Supreme Court upholds the allegations contained in the ECP order, that is what the law entails. There is a strong possibility that the Supreme Court may not agree with the arguments of the ECP and the federal government and acquit the PTI of any wrongdoing.
Even in the worst case scenario, as we saw when the National Awami Party (NAP) was disbanded in the 70s, if the PTI were to be dissolved, the Tehreek-e-Insaaf Pakistan (TIP) would form. According to him, he can be reincarnated. . And even after its dissolution, it can start working on the same day.
This brings us to the question of the political implications and possible dissolution of the ECP order. It remains to be seen whether Imran Khan will be able to discredit these moves through his aggressive communication strategy and retain public support for now or whether the federal government armed with the ECP mandate can turn the political tide. Is. Favor
The author was the President of PLDAt-Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency. Email: prasdantpaldut.org Tweets abmpaldut
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