ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday expressed ‘dissatisfaction’ over Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s reply to a petition seeking his disqualification on charges of collecting party funds from ‘prohibited’ sources.
Gondal submitted his objections to the petition submitted by Hashim Ali Bhutta, who the PTI believes is being backed by the PML-N. Bhutta had attached some documents to his petition which support his claims that the PTI had received around $3 million through various sources in Texas and California.
“The petitioner Hashim Bhutta is the son of former PML-N MNA Naseer Bhutta,” Gondal told the CEC. “He [Bhutta] has filed the petition on the request of PML-N. He had issued statements in favour of the Sharif family during their Hudaibiya Papers case in the High Court.” “The Election Commission should hear our objections before moving ahead,” Gondal told the bench. “You first need to decide whether you can even hold a hearing on this petition or not,” Gondal retorted. Responding to Khan’s counsel, the CEC suggested that the defendants offer straightforward answers.
Published in Daily Times, July 7th , 2017.
