YET again, a verdict on the PTI foreign funding case appears to have eluded us. Relieving the party of its objection to the Election Commission issuing a decision on the matter within a 30-day period, the Islamabad High Court has suspended an earlier order to this effect and asked the ECP to scrutinise other parties’ accounts as well. An ECP scrutiny committee had taken six months longer than its set deadline to hand in its report of just one party’s accounts: how long it will take to scrutinise the accounts of 17 other parties — both big and small, new and old — is anybody’s guess. It is a shame that seven years are apparently not enough for a verdict on whether or not a political party received any prohibited foreign funding. Given its laborious struggle in the PTI’s case, it is clear the ECP lacks the necessary expertise and financial and human resources to be able to undertake a task as complex and arduous as a comprehensive audit of each party’s finances. Perhaps it is time that the task was either formally delegated to another state entity or all parties were required by law to submit professionally audited financial accounts for each year at their own expense.

It is a wonder why PTI continues to fight tooth and nail against the ECP when its own leaders claim with such conviction that they have done no wrong. The party could have done a great service and contributed to the country’s democratic evolution by allowing greater transparency into its inner workings, setting an example for other parties to follow. The PTI has previously claimed it introduced the concept of political fundraising to Pakistan: what shame is there, then, in letting the details of supporters’ contributions come to light? The PTI is right in demanding that it ought not to be targeted or singled out for the purposes of scrutiny, but given its public posturing and insistence on being recognised as the cleanest party in politics, it would have been better had it set the bar and then asked other parties to follow suit. It is important for the democratic health of our country that all political parties’ financial dealings, including PPP and PML-N’s, be brought to light. After accusing and counter-accusing each other of using money to influence the political process, it is strange our leaders have yet to arrive at that conclusion.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2022