ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday said PTI Chief Imran Khan should immediately resign from party leadership besides apologizing to the nation after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decision into the foreign funding case.
“A constitutional institution declared Imran Khan as a thief,” the minister said while addressing a press conference along with Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar in Islamabad on Tuesday.
His statements came after the election commission announced the judgement in the PTI prohibited funding case.
The PTI took prohibited funding from foreign companies and hid 13 accounts out of the total 34 from where it received money, the judgement stated.
“He (Imran) utilized donation and foreign funding for running a political party,” Sanaullah said.
The minister said PTI Chief wanted to create chaos and anarchy in the country by misguiding the nation.
The ECP decision proved Imran Khan a certified liar, he added.
He said PTI deliberately concealed facts into foreign funding case and all such details were narrated in the decision.
“The country’s laws do not permit any political party to receive funds from foreigners or foreign companies,” he added.
The minister paid tributes to three members ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Skindar Sultan for their landmark and historical decision.
“The ECP despite continuous baseless allegations of the PTI head showed courage and patience and decided the case on merit,” Sanaullah said.
“Fitna Khan used abusive language against the election commission and CEC but they decided the case as per the constitution,” the interior minister said and added that the entire nation paid salute to the ECP for their landmark decision.
The minister said the decision had proved that Imran Khan was a dishonest person and utilized donations collected in name of charity for political gains only.
Referring to the 2002 and 2017 Acts regarding elections, he said it was totally illegal to receive funds from foreigners and foreign funding.
It was evident from the decision that PTI received funding from 34 foreigners besides 351 foreign companies, the interior minister added.
Sanaullah said that PTI had tried its best to defer the case on one or other pretexts for the last eight years.
However, the ECP investigation unearthed all facts before the nation, he added.
He said the government was fully satisfied and the ECP’s decision would be implemented.