ISLAMABAD -  The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Monday urged the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take notice of the distribution of Rs 200 billion among members of parliament (MPs) belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

A meeting of the PTI senior leadership held under the chair of Imran Khan urged the Supreme Court and the ECP to take immediate notice of the “political bribe” being distributed in the garb of development funds. The PTI called the distribution of development funds from the national exchequer a “pre-poll rigging”.

The meeting strongly criticised federal and Punjab governments for bestowing members of the National Assembly as well as the provincial assembly with Rs200 billion in the name of development funds.

“Prior to elections, the distribution of funds from the national exchequer is nothing but a shameless attempt of pre-poll rigging,” the PTI said. 

The PTI leadership discussed a host of issues including finalisation of party candidates for election 2018, the issue of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat (PBUH), the delimitation of constitutes and the recently passed Elections Act with specific reference to its clause 203 that paved way for deposed PM Nawaz Sharif to retain the party head portfolio.

Earlier, the PTI had challenged the recently passed Elections Act 2017 in the Supreme Court contending that its section 203 was aimed to keep alive the politics of disqualified PM Sharif. But, the apex court rejected its petition directing the PTI to approach an appropriate forum.

The meeting condemned the “malicious” campaign of Sharif and his team against state institutions including the Supreme Court. The PTI reiterated its demand for early elections stating that due to succumbed policies of the government, Pakistan has sunken into the quagmire of economic, political and administrative crisis, said a statement issued by PTI’s Central Media Department.

“The sitting government lacks the ability of decision-making which has led to failures on both political and administrative levels,” the PTI said.  The statement said the sitting prime minister and his cabinet was acting as “puppets” instead of playing their constitutional role. The PTI urged that “a government with public mandate and confidence should be given the authority for policy and decision making instead of giving the reins of power to a few stooges playing in the hands of their disqualified master”.

A PTI leader said that the meeting also discussed the Islamabad’s protest sit-in and added that the party was against the use of force against the protesters.

Separately, the PTI chief said that the ousted prime minister Sharif’s slogan that the people will do his ‘accountability’ was an attempt to fool the masses but the people could not be fooled repeatedly.

“Nawaz Sharif is trying to stir people into doing his ‘Ehtisab’ is a violation of the constitution and a call for mob justice while undermining the constitutional role of the judiciary,” the PTI chief said in a twitter.

Khan said that undermining the judiciary and the Constitution by ex-PM showed that Sharif had no legal defence against the criminal charges against him.

The PTI chief said that it was the judiciary that was tasked with holding the accountability and upholding the law.

“Nawaz Sharif and the Sharif mafia are desperate to use all extralegal means to save their Rs300 billion laundered and stashed abroad,” he said.

Meanwhile, in another tweet, the PTI chief criticised the Sindh government for the use of force against ‘Fix it’ volunteers stating that the violent response of Sindh government against the ‘Fix it’ peaceful protesters for questioning the crumbling education system in Karachi was extremely condemnable. “Arrest of eight ‘Fix it’ members is an autocratic move and denial of citizens’ democratic right of peaceful protest,” he said.