ISLAMABAD - Political confrontation in the country is getting bitter as each day passes amid the attacks and counter-attacks by the rival political parties. Ruling partners, the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) yesterday highlighted the Financial Times report regarding PTI foreign funding and alleged that the report was a serious indictment against PTI chief Imran Khan.
Earlier, National Assembly speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf accepted resignations of 11 PTI lawmakers reducing their strength. The PTI and its ally, the PML (Quaid-e-Azam) hit back by winning the Speaker’s slot back in the Punjab Assembly, days after replacing the PML-N-led provincial government.
PTI and PML-Q’s Sibtain Khan defeated Malik Saiful Malook Khokhar of PML-N in the Speaker’s elections despite the PML-N’s claims of a surprise
This comes as Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan admitted that the PML-N supremo was in favour of early elections to resolve the political crises.
PTI’s return in Punjab is not a good sign for the PPP and the PML-N as they prepare for the general elections.
The two parties are waiting for the right environment to go for elections if they agree on the option. At present, PPP supremo Asif Ali Zardari is against early polls. Going for elections under the worsening inflation and price hike could be suicidal.
The PPP and the PML-N have now started a campaign to attack the PTI and ‘expose’ their wrongdoings if calling early elections becomes inevitable.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif while reacting to the Financial Times report regarding the PTI foreign funding said that report was a serious indictment against Imran Khan.
Yesterday, PPP Secretary General Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari’s criticised the PTI for receiving illegal funding. “Transferring money deposited for welfare purposes to the party account amounts is dishonesty. The mask of wealth is coming off the face of the charity looter,” he said citing the Financial Times.
He alleged that Imran Khan was a “source of laughter” for Pakistanis. “Global Journal’s disclosure of receiving funds in the name of charity is yet another stain on chairman PTI. The theft and corruption of Imran Khan, the ‘saint’ of the corrupt, is at global,” he contended.
PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman said the Financial Times had revealed that the PTI had been receiving illegal funding in the name of charity.
“The world is now reading the stories of Imran Khan’s corruption and theft Imran Khan should apologize to the nation for taking money in the name of charity,” she remarked.
The PPP leader, incumbent minister for climate change, said the money collected in the name of charitable purposes was transferred directly to PTI.
She said the PTI kept filling its accounts on the money received for welfare purposes. “After receiving millions of dollars, Tehrik-e-Insaf says they don’t know where the money came from,” she mentioned.
Despite winning in Punjab, the PTI yesterday seemed on the defensive mode thanks to the Financial Times report. PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry insisted the funding was collected through legal means.
The PPP and the PML-N aim to focus on the Financial Times report and also urge the Election Commission of Pakistan to announce its verdict in the PTI foreign funding case to control damage after losing Punjab to the PTI and the PML-Q alliance.
In the coming days, the rival parties are set to ‘expose’ each other and a war of words and allegations will not be a surprise.