Move to drag IMF into rigging row planned

PTI’s plan to urge IMF to seek an independent audit of the election results before continuing talks with Islamabad for any new loan backfired on Friday as not only the lender expressed interest in working with the incoming government, but the party also received severe criticism from political forces.

Incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, while talking to reporters in Adiala Jail, confirmed he was planning to write to IMF. He said PTI would write a letter to the IMF against alleged rigging.

“We will inform the Fund that due to rigged elections, the investors would not trust the regime and that PTI is seeking a probe into the rigging.”

He was of the view that in the prevailing political unrest, new loans would bring more poverty. “Seeking loan without investment will be detrimental to the country’s economy,” he warned, adding that political stability was imperative prior to getting a new loan.

The former prime minister said the country’s institutions were destroyed just to select Nawaz Sharif. “NAB and courts have been ruined only to pave the way for Nawaz’s selection.”

He said that former commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha’s stunning revelations about massive rigging had come to the fore, but he was later “tortured” to change his statement. “Now his (commissioner’s) software has been updated,” he added. PTI leader Barrister Gohar Khan defended Imran Khan’s move, saying the letter to IMF would be in the interest of the country.

On the other hand, an IMF official said the lender looked forward to engaging with the new government on policies “to ensure macroeconomic stability and prosperity for all of Pakistan’s citizens”.

However, Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar of the PTI toned down the party’s stance on approaching the IMF. He said Pakistan should continue to engage with the IMF to ensure financial discipline, good governance, and economic stability, which are critical for the prosperity of Pakistan’s people.

In a post on X, he wrote, “For PTI, Pakistan will always be first and foremost. While we will continue to support all steps in this direction taken for the benefit of the country and in the national interest, PTI will continue its struggle for democracy and raise its voice at all forums and expect the international community’s support.”

Mr Zafar said he would advise Imran Khan to show restraint as writing to IMF at this juncture would not be a good option.

In the Senate, PML-N leader Irfan Siddiqui said writing a letter to IMF to block a new loan will be a move not against the PPP and PML-M but the people of Pakistan. He said complaints of rigging were also lodged in the 2018 elections, but no one had even tried to ask the IMF to block the loan. Mr Siddiqui recalled that the PTI regime’s finance minister, Shaukat Tarin, had also tried to stop the IMF loan in 2022. Similarly, another PTI leader, Fawad Chaudhry, had threatened that Punjab and KP (which were under the PTI’s rule during the PDM government) would not accept any deal between the IMF and the PDM regime.

PPP Senator Shahadat Awan said PTI had already tried to block the way of an IMF deal in the past and now a similar conspiracy was being hatched. Sherry Rehman, PPP vice president, condemned Imran Khan’s attempt to sabotage the future IMF programme.

“Is it not a violation of laws and ethical standards to invite the IMF to intervene in Pakistan’s internal matters, especially considering that the IMF has no mandate to interfere in the general elections of a country?” she asked.

PML-N leader Ishaq Dar, while speaking to the media in the Punjab Assembly, also condemned PTI’s decision and described it as “sad”. “If a letter is written to IMF, it would have no standing,” he said, adding that by writing the letter, the PTI was proving to be anti-national.