Building best image: Pak pol parties get new lobbying Firms in US

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s three major parties have activated their registered firms for better lobbying of their party’s top leadership in the United States of America. Five political parties have registered the firms with the US Department of Justice. Pakistan People’s Party has registered a firm in America for better branding of the party.

A person named Safdar Qureshi registered a firm with 7356 for the PPP in December 2023. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s party is the foreign principal of this firm. The purpose of registering a firm is to promote democracy, end hunger and lobby for the supremacy of the Constitution.Tehreek-e-Insaf has also registered a new company for Brister Gohar Ali Khan in America as its foreign principal.

The company is registered with the US Department of Justice. Interestingly, PTI’s new chairman Gauhar Ali Khan who has been shown as the foreign principal of the company did not know about this development.

The company’s registration number with the US Department of Justice is 7351
PTI Chicago Chapter has registered this company. The company has been registered by two American citizens, Raja Yaqub and Sagheer Bakhtiari.

The purpose of the company is to promote the welfare of PTI, lobbying, and harmony between Americans and Pakistanis. Pakistan Muslim League-N has also submitted the annual details of its party’s registered firm to the Department of Justice this month. The Company 6521 under Fara Law submitted its details through Raheel Dar.

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The PML-N firm has been doing its lobbying since 2016, documents show. Raheel Dar and Mian Fayyaz are submitting statements to the firm to the Department of Justice, documents revealed. Details revealed that the PTI received the latest tranche of funds/contributions worth $117,000 on April 30, 2017, according to the documents submitted with the (DoJ).

The PTI received funds worth some $3.5 million through its foreign accounts since 2010, documents continued to reveal. The purpose of collecting such funds was to help the PTI establish genuine democracy in Pakistan. Mohammad N Khan, an American national, formed a company, PTI US LLC, (Registration Number 5975) in 2010 which raised $2.344 million from Feb 2010 to June 2013.

And then PTI formed a new firm (Registration Number 6160) in 2013 which raised around $850,000 till April 2017 and practice goes on. PTI Pakistan received funds of $190,000 in 2011, documents revealed that the party raised funds worth some $775,000 in June 2012 and then another tranche worth $284,000 collected through this firm in December 2012.

Party received $627,610 in June 2013 and $384,000, $165,000 and $30,000 also received into its foreign account till December 2013. Contributions/ funds worth $90,000 were received by PTI Pakistan through its central bank account in 2014. Aftab Shah, an American citizen and Ali Asim Khan, a Canadian citizen, raised these funds.

The PTI US-LLC raised $401,956 but transferred $305,000 to Pakistan in April 2015 and $75,000 was transferred to PTI in October 2016. Mr Sajjad Burki, a US citizen, who is President of PTI USA LLC California, Faisal Irshad, a US citizen and Kaleem Syed, a Pakistani national were part of this campaign.

Two American nationals, Raza Bokhari and Adeel Shah jointly formed three firms and one of them was named APML LLC. Firms (Registration Numbers 6062-6018-6019) got registered with the DoJ and jointly collected donations/ funds worth some $270,000. The APML LLC (Rg No 6019) was formed in October 2010 when Mr Bokhari claimed that he is a close friend of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, who is president of APML. APML raised an estimated $130,000 in 2011 and $33,500 in 2012.

Documents did not show whether these funds were transferred to APML in Pakistan or not. The PPP, through an American firm Burson Marsteller, had also registered a firm (Registration Number 2469) in January 2006. Asif Ali Zardari, through this firm, signed an agreement with Bursen Marsteller.

The firm remained operative till June 30, 2007, when it involved a deal worth around $110,000 aiming to expand its outreach in America and get more strong political support in Pakistan. Documents, however, did not reveal whether PPP generated funds through this firm or not.

The MQM also registered a firm (Registration Number 6005) with JoD under FARA 1938 having the address of Nine Zero, Azizabad, Pakistan. Its registrants are Ibad Rehman, a Canadian national, Ajaz Siddiqui, an American national; Dr Farooq Sattar and Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi for collecting donations/ funds for political campaigns and other projects in Pakistan. But how much amount MQM raised through this firm was not clear yet.

Senator Mian Ateeq of MQM, when contacted for comments, said he did know about this firm.