Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that he will write to the IMF, demanding the global lender to stop its support to cash-strapped Pakistan until it seeks an “audit” of the elections mired in controversies, including vote rigging.
Khan’s message from jail was conveyed through Barrister Ali Zafar, who met him in the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi where the former cricketer-turned-politician has been incarcerated since last year.
“A letter will be written to the International Monetary Fund that it should first seek an audit of elections and then decide about any loan to Pakistan,” Zafar said, adding that any loan to Pakistan without an audit of votes would be harmful to the country facing financial woes.
Zafar, who has also been nominated by Khan to contest intra-party election for the chairman’s post, also said that the IMF has laws which bar aid to countries not having democratic governments. He said a democratic government was only possible after having fair and free elections.
He rejected the impression that the letter would further jeopardise Pakistan’s fragile economy which, without assistance from the donors, may default on external liabilities.
Pakistan is heavily dependent on the IMF and currently implementing a short-term USD 3 billion agreement. The global lender has already provided two tranches of loan and the last tranche of USD 1.2 is expected by the end of March or early April.
According to experts, the new government after taking office would have to enter into fresh talks with the IMF to get a new loan.
The statement by Khan drew criticism from his opponents, who said that the former prime minister was bent on damaging the country.