Islamabad (Web Desk): Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Tuesday held a protest rally outside the office of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the delayed proceedings in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) foreign funding case.
Addressing the rally, the leadership of the 11-party opposition alliance accused PTI of receiving foreign funding from India and Israel.
Speaking to the protesters, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz said that the foreign finding case involving the PTI is the 'worst kind of fraud'.
She said that Imran Khan cannot blame his 'agents' for the wrongdoing when he knew about it.
Maryam said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had identified "23 secret accounts" of the PTI which she claimed were being operated through Prime Minister Imran's signatures.
The PML-N vice- president accused Imran Khan of receiving funds from a leader of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and an Israeli man.
She said that "countless" such people and companies from India and Israel had funded the PTI.
"When you receive funds from BJP members, then why would [you] not pray for Modi to win [the elections]? Why would Kashmir not be thrown in Modi's lap then?" Maryam said. "When you take money from someone, you have to do their bidding."
She said it was due to the PDM's movement that the premier was forced to re-open proceedings in the foreign funding case.
She said that the people have gathered outside the ECP to remind the constitutional institutions of its obligations, adding that the foreign funding case is being delayed willfully.
Addressing the protest rally, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief and PDM’s president Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the PTI government was "not elected" and had no right to rule the country.
"Those in power selected an ineligible person for the top slot and imposed him on the masses," he said.
The PDM chief said that the incumbent rulers took foreign funds to come into power, adding that today's protest is only a glimpse of what will be happening later.
"If the ECP still decides to support an ineligible government and its team, then we cannot have faith in the authority in the future," Fazlur Rehman said while criticising the election body.
The JUI-F chief said that the PDM will continue to protest against this government until it is dismissed.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced a 'large protest' at Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh on February 5 against the PTI-led government on the sidelines of the rallies in support of Kashmiris.
Earlier, Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Raja Pervez Ashraf, Pakhtunkhawa Milli Awami Party chief (PKMAP) Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Akhtar Mengal, PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal and other main leaders of the opposition alliance also addressed the gathering.
Meanwhile, the government beefed up security around the ECP office to avoid any untoward incident during the protest rally.
All entry and exit points to the capital's Red Zone, which houses high-profile buildings such as the Supreme Court and President House among others, had also been sealed.
Interior Minister Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed visited the ECP to review the security and personally monitored the situation from the Control Room.
