ISLAMABAD, April 14: An independent commission of political parties should be established and parties be provided public funding on the basis of the votes they polled in the previous general elections. These suggestions were put forth at the National Consultative Workshop on Political Parties Funding Reforms arranged by the Centre for Civic Education in collaboration with National Endowment for Democracy on Thursday, said a statement.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary-General of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said there was an increasing realization at the international level that politics had become an expensive game affordable only to the affluent class.

“This results in disinterest in politics and apathy among common people,” he said. He cited PML-N’s manifesto that proposed formation of public funding mechanism in the country.

Mr Jhagra agreed with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) legislator Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari that most of the legislators started their parliamentary career with a lie that their election expenditures were within the prescribed limits.

MNA Nayyar Hussain Bokhari said the puppet parties of the establishment had been on the political scene of Pakistan since 1947.

“The state resources are abused to nurture these puppet parties and genuine political parties suffer,” he said.

Speakers also highlighted the fact that the role of filthy resources emerged on the country’s political scene in the wake of 1985’s partyless elections.

The statement said majority of the speakers also agreed to check encroachments by intelligence networks in the political sphere.