ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Wednesday questioned the funds of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and called on the Election Commission of Pakistan to probe funds of other political parties.
Addressing a press conference, PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said that the Sharif family has used their party to whitewash their ill-gotten wealth. He said that the PML-N has registered a company in Britain named PMLN Regd. UK which has no record in the ECP.
He further said that this company was owned by Wetford Co. which is owned by one named Fazlur Rehman which is unconfirmed but could be the chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. This implies that Fazlur Rehman is partners with Nawaz Sharif, and it is also well known that Fazlur Rehman receives funds from Libya for his seminaries.
Furthermore, he said that the audit report of PML-N’s party funds between 2013-15 submitted in the ECP were conducted by an audit firm which is not certified as an ‘A-grade’ company as required by ECP.
The main auditor for PML-N was Waseem Siddiqui & Co., for Punjab Muhammad Ayub and Co., for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dilroz Khan, and Tanveer Afzal & Co. for Sindh, while there was no audit conducted for Balochistan claiming that there was no party setup there despite their government in the province. The ECP accepted the audit report and it was allotted an election symbol.
He said the PML-N does not even have a registered head office in the country. The party valued its office in Lahore at Rs270million but claimed that it was in the control of the PML-Q, while PML-N House in Sector F7 in Islamabad was also not in its possession.
He further said the PML-N ran an election campaign worth Rs1.53 billion during 2013 general elections, but still has only Rs14.563million in its central secretariat. The JIT report states that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave Rs100million to the PML-N and took back Rs60milion but it is not shown in the party funds, which reveals glaring contradictions.
Furthermore, he said the audit report states that no PML-N member has ever deposited even a single amount in the party funds, while there are no sponsors, donors or other known sources of party funds. There is also no expenditure of party funds between 2013-15 except during election campaigns.
He hoped the ECP will act on the directives of the Supreme Court and will also conduct audit of party funds of the PML-N. He predicted that Nawaz Sharif will resign by next week or will be disqualified.
