ALI HUSSAIN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PMD) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday said that all the parties in the ruling alliance have recommended to the government to take swift action against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its leadership in the wake of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s verdict on the prohibited funding case.

Speaking at a news conference after the PDM meeting, Maulana maintained that after the ECP’s verdict, the entire PTI, its central and the provincial leadership are involved in this act of “crime” and the “crime” has now been proven against them.

The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the leadership of the PDM and the ruling coalition partners for the second and concluding session on Wednesday to deliberate upon the measures to be undertaken to implement the ECP’s verdict.

“All the political parties are unanimous in their stance and they are demanding the government and recommending a swift action to be taken against them. Obviously, whether it is Imran Khan himself or President Dr Arif Alvi, they should step down from the party’s chairmanship and as president of Pakistan, respectively. Because they have now been proven guilty,” he added.

“A criminal who was caught red-handed, now he is trying to shift the blame on his late aides who are now more alive. What an “awkward” attempt is this?” he further asked while criticizing the PTI chief, Imran Khan. “Not only Imran Khan is a criminal, but the whole party comprises criminals,” he alleged.

He added that the process of arrests of the PTI office bearers should start now, adding that four servants of Imran Khan’s residence have also allegedly received the funds in their accounts and they should also be arrested immediately for further investigation.

“It’s a clear violation of the law. Whether the party chairman, secretary general or President Arif Alvi, all this has happened after their due consent and all of them are involved in this crime,” the PDM president added, while sharing views of the leaders of the coalition partners in the meeting with the media.

He stated in the meeting the government and its allies agreed that the matter of the “state’s security” is of utmost priority and stressed that all the “institutions and powers” should work as one to protect the country.

“Now, in my view, it’s a matter of survival of the state and everyone, responsible institutions, powers and individuals associated with the institutions tasked to guard the state, should stand together to save this country,” he stated, adding that such kind of “criminals” should be kept out of the country’s politics.

“They should be made an example in history for the upcoming generations,” Maulana added.

He further alleged that the ECP’s verdict has proved that Khan is a “foreign agent with a foreign agenda”, who has taken help from India, Israel, America, Canada, and Finland.

He stated that the details of the PTI accounts were provided to the ECP by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) during the PTI government’s tenure and that the PDM was not a party to the case.

For over eight years, he added that Imran Khan tried to “run away” from the ECP by levelling accusations against the Commission and the chief election commissioner by blackmailing the election body. “But the reality is that the ECP is an institution and it can’t falsify the facts,” he added.