Waiting for report into party funding of PPP, PML-N to come out: Fawad Ch

PM Imran, Fawad Ch said, has directed the party to make preparations for local government elections

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said on Thursday that no other party like ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has accounted for party funding and now we are waiting for a report into party funding of PPP, PML-N to come out.

Talking to media in Islamabad on Thursday, he said that Farrukh Habib has been appointed PTI’s Secretary Information and Siraj Khan will serve as party s finance secretary. Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, has directed the party to make preparations for the local government elections. 

Regarding ECP’s scrutiny report on funding of the PTI, Fawad Ch said it was the only party in the country which kept system of its funding fully organized. It had not only documented its funding efficiently but also submitted its complete record to the ECP, he added.

Some 40,000 members contributed financially towards making the PTI a ‘strong and powerful’ party, he said, expressing gratitude for the workers who entrusted PM Imran Khan with their donations.

The PTI was vindicated in the foreign funding case, he said, adding “We, now, wait for the scrutiny committees’ reports on the funding of PML-N and PPP so that it can be known where they stand.”

The minister accused the PML-N of suspicious transactions worth Rs 270 million through a local bank account. An entry of Rs 30 million was made in the name of Bawan Das, while a person namely Hanif Khan deposited an amount of Rs 45 million in the PML-N account which was later transferred by Nawaz Sharif in his own account.

 

The minister said a comprehensive plan was underway to control inflation in the country. The National Assembly session had been summoned on January 10 and it was expected that the amended finance bill and a law pertaining to the State Bank of Pakistan would sail through it.

 

He said the approval of bills and singing of an agreement with the International Monitory fund (IMF) would usher in economic stability and strengthening the rupee against dollar.

The minister said all the economic indicators, including growth rate, were on an upward trajectory in the country, despite the worldwide impact of coronavirus pandemic.

The growth rate was at four to five per cent as per the projections of different financial departments, he said while foreseeing economic stability and massive decline in inflation in the coming months.

 

Fawad Ch said the PTI had announced its advisory councils for different regions, including Punjab, Sindh and others.

The announcement was made during the meeting of PTI’s Central Executive Committee, he said addressing a news conference.

“Except Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI has announced its executive and advisory boards in the provinces,” he said. The councils had been constituted separately in Central and South Punjab, besides Sindh.

The minister said Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib had been appointed as the PTI’s Information Secretary, and Siraj Khan as Finance Secretary.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Secretary General Asad Umar for coordinating with provincial presidents with regard to the party’s new organizational set-up.

The prime minister, he said, also directed the party to make preparations for the local government elections.

“We are reaching out to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) to build consensus for bringing amendment in the (election) code of conduct,” he said, adding the ministers, prime minister and assembly members should be allowed to participate in the election campaign.

It was ‘ridiculous’ to issue notices to political people on running election campaigns in their constituencies, he remarked.

Fawad said efforts were afoot to engage other political parties so that a request should be made to the Election Commission of Pakistan for reviewing the code of conduct.