Pakistan Electoral Commission Finds Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Party Was Illegally Funded

Aug. 2 () –

Pakistan’s electoral commission said on Tuesday that former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), illegally received funds through a series of donations from the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The body has indicated in a unanimous ruling that the party received funding “consciously and voluntarily” in a series of donations that would go against the law. These include one from Pakistani tycoon Arif Naqvi and one through a private company registered in the Cayman Islands.

Likewise, it has detailed that the PTI obtained donations from 34 foreign citizens and 351 foreign companies through fundraising campaigns in the United States, as well as from Romita Shetty, a businesswoman of Indian origin living in the United States, according to has picked up the Pakistani newspaper ‘Dawn’.

The electoral commission has also highlighted that the party only has eight declared bank accounts and has indicated that another thirteen had not been linked to the formation, despite the fact that the investigations have determined that they were opened and were operated by the leadership of the PTI at the level central and provincial.

For this reason, it has sent a notification to the party “to explain why the aforementioned funds should not be confiscated”, while ordering “to initiate any other action according to the law, including presenting the case before the federal government”.

The agency has also pointed out that Jan himself sent “very inaccurate and erroneous” documents during the five years reviewed and has criticized that “even during the investigations and hearings by the commission, the CFI continued to hide and withhold a total publication of the sources of their funds.

However, Farruj Habib, a senior PTI official, stressed after the ruling that the accusations of foreign financing of the party “have not been proven.” “The verdict disappoints those who were promoting a narrative against the PTI on foreign financing,” he argued, as reported by the Geo TV television network.

Jan was dismissed in April following a motion of censure promoted by the opposition in Parliament, after the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the then Prime Minister to dissolve Parliament and announce early elections following the refusal of the Presidency of the legislative body to hold the vote in the first instance. After that, the opposition Shehbaz Sharif assumed the position of prime minister.