Former Prime Minister and Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan said that his party was the only party that had raised money through political fundraising, adding that overseas Pakistanis gave him money and support.
“If it is foreign funding, then what about the foreign remittances which the overseas Pakistanis send?,” the former premier questioned while addressing the protesters at the F9 Park in Islamabad on Thursday night through a video link.
Imran Khan said that the election commission had declared the money of overseas Pakistanis as foreign funding. “When you raise money from a foreign country it is foreign funding, if you take money from a private company it is foreign funding,” the PTI chief explained.
The PTI chief had called a “peaceful protest” outside the ECP after the ECP announced its verdict related to the party’s prohibited funding case.
Imran Khan said that it was a constitutional right of everybody to protest, adding that his party had always tried to protest within the constitutional limits.
He said that Islamabad had been made a fortress.
The PTI chairperson went on to say that they [coalition government] had always used institutions and used money to break his party.
He said that they [coalition parties} assumed that they would rig the Punjab elections easily, but they lost the elections despite using all the tactics.
“The government can be controlled through the Election Commission, that is why these people want to enslave the nation through it.”
The PTI chairman said that he wanted to bring Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) to prevent rigging in elections, which would eliminate 130 methods of rigging.
“How can a political party run without money?” the former premier asked and said that when he had formed the political party, it had been very difficult to collect money.
“Overseas Pakistanis first gave me money and supported me.”
He said that Shaukat Khanum’s annual budget was about 16 billion rupees, adding that half of Shaukat Khanum’s money was from overseas Pakistanis.
There is a difference between an affidavit and a certificate, the PTI chief said, adding that Shahbaz Sharif had submitted an affidavit that Nawaz Sharif will return to the country.
“PTI is the only party which started political fund-raising,” he said and demanded fundraising details of PPP and PML-N should also be brought forward.
There is a difference between an affidavit and a certificate, the PTI chief said adding that the one Shahbaz Sharif had submitted in the court that Nawaz Sharif will return was an affidavit.
