The ruling coalition attacked Pakistan Thereek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in its verdict on Tuesday unanimously ruled that the PTI did indeed receive prohibited funding and issued a show-cause notice to the party.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif said that the commission’s verdict on PTI’s prohibited funding case “charge sheets Imran for violating the Constitution”.
“Proven yet again that he is a certified liar. Nation should ponder over the implications of his politics funded by foreigners,” tweeted the prime minister.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz chided Khan for being a “liar and money launderer”.
“The one who keeps giving lectures about liberating the nation from slavery turned out to be a slave of external powers,” tweeted Maryam.
“Khan is the only politician of Pakistan who has been proven, in a single judgement with irrefutable evidence, to be a liar, corrupt, a money launderer, and acting on the influence of external forces,” she said.
In a press conference in Islamabad, senior PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the judgement has proved the ex-prime minister is the “biggest thief”.
Defending the ECP decision, PTI leaders insisted that the ECP failed to prove foreign funding against the party.
In a press conference, Fawad Chaudhry said that overseas Pakistanis raised funds for the PTI and the ECP had acknowledged their narrative that it does not come under “foreign funding”.
In the next phase, the PTI will prove that the 16 accounts are legal, adding that these accounts are “subsidiary accounts”, said Fawad Chaudhry.
“No party has the right to hide its funding from the people,” said the PTI leader.
“Today’s decision is not correct,” Fawad added.
PTI leader Asad Umar said that the ECP has fulfilled its wish by announcing the verdict in the party’s funding case.
“The nation wants an answer as to why funding reports of the PPP and PML-N are not being released?” asked the PTI leader.