Pakistan election 2024 | Imran Khan asks IMF to audit results before considering any bailout talks with new govt
The Hindu
Imran Khan urges IMF to audit 30% of assembly seats before bailout talks, amid election fraud allegations.
Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on February 28 sent a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), urging it to ensure the audit of at least 30% of national and provincial assembly seats before considering any further bailout talks with the cash-strapped country.
The 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founder had announced last week that he would ask the global lender to avoid any assistance as the authorities rigged the electoral outcome to keep his party out of power.
His nominated chairman of the party, Gohar Ali Khan, addressing a press conference with party secretary General Omar Ayub Khan, confirmed the letter but he refused to share its content. A party spokesman also said that the letter would not be shared with the media until it was recognized by the party.
However, the Press Trust of India has seen a letter addressed to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva by party spokesperson Raoof Hasan under the guidance of Khan. It begins with a clarification that the party was not against the IMF facility to Pakistan.
"It must be clarified at the very outset that the PTI does not wish to stand in the way of any IMF facility to the state of Pakistan that promotes the immediate as well as the long-term economic well-being of the country,” the letter read.
But it added that the IMF facility should be linked with conditions. "It is clear that such facility, along with the national commitment to bring about necessary reforms that facilitate repayment and enable the country to stand on its own feet, can only be negotiated in the best interests of the people of Pakistan by a duly elected government that has the trust of the people of Pakistan,” it stated.
The letter stated that the IMF is attached to good governance, transparency, upholding the rule of law and curbing corrupt practices while entering financing agreements with member countries.
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