Funding issues of political parties should be presented before the public: Fawad
LAHORE ( Web News )
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said the Prime Minister Imran Khan wants to solve issues of Balochistan on priority basis. He said that if TTP will follow the law then it is right; otherwise we fought with them earlier and will do same in future also. He said that all the responsible of the Army Public School Peshawar incident have been sent to hell. He said that the negotiations are underway with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, adding that the writ of the state will be maintained. He said that the state has no confusion with regards to TLP and all similar outfits as well.
Addressing a news conference in Lahore along Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Farrukh Habib, Information Minister said that the Prime Minister has taken notice of demands of hard working fishermen of Gwadar and has directed to take strict action against illegal fishing. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced biggest package of the history for the south Balochistan.
The Information Minister said that the PTI Government wants to make the Election Commission of Pakistan strong. While referring to the foreign funding issue of the political parties, he said funding issues of political parties should be presented before the public, adding that the funding of all the political parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf should be presented before the masses. He said that the democracy will be promoted in the country when all the political parties would have their own structures and their funding system will be open.
Fawad Chaudhry said that we have seen that many extremist organizations have been registered with the ECP, whom funding sources are not present and this is very concerning matter. He said that the record of not a single donor of PML-N is registered in ECP. Similarly the funding record of PPP between 2009 to 2012 is empty. The sources of the funding are still unknown while in KPK division, no accountability of PML-N was ever carried out.
There is no record of donations of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said the minister, adding that no audit report of the party’s Punjab and K-P chapter has been provided either.
“[Former prime minister] Nawaz Sharif donated Rs.100 million to PML-N and then PML-N returned Rs45 million back to him… they basically wanted to turn their black money white,” he added.
The information minister said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) spent Rs.232 million during the 2018 general elections but it did not provide sources of such a huge amount. “During PPP’s tenure, Husain Haqqani, who was Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, used to collect funds for PPP from overseas Pakistanis.”
Fawad urged the ECP to start the scrutiny process from PML-N and PPP but should also include other parties including JUI-F and TLP.
Ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was the only party that had provided complete sourcing of its funding to the ECP, he claimed.
Talking about the upcoming local government elections in Punjab, Fawad said for the first time in the history of Pakistan, mayors would be directly elected in every district of the province. “They will be chief ministers in their respective districts,” he remarked.
He said despite differences within the party, Prime Minister Imran Khan fulfilled his promise of providing people with a robust local bodies system, adding that a schedule for the elections would soon be released.
He rejected ECP’s position that electronic voting machines (EVMs) cannot be used during the local elections, saying that there will be no problem in conducting them via EVMs at provincial level.
“ECP should take this (EVM) matter seriously now… if it is willing to work for it then the machines can be arranged within two months,” he said.
He said that the local government system of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa give the maximum powers to the local tier of the government.
Responding to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s statements in the Sindh Assembly, Fawad said that it was not appropriate for someone of his stature to give such statements. “He (Murad Ali Shah) often gives such statements which do not suit a chief minister of a province.”
The minister said that for the first time since 1964, Karachi was doing federal politics instead of regional.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State, Farrukh Habib said financial accounts of all political parties should be disclosed before the public simultaneously.
He said that PTI has already provided its party funds details to the Election Commission, while PML-N and PPP have not done that so far.
He said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has already directed the Election Commission to ensure scrutiny of all political parties. He expressed amazement why such a delay is being caused regarding implementation on apex court’ orders.