Imran Khan to write to IMF to halt loan over Pakistan's 'rigged polls'

Imran Khan to write to IMF to halt loan over Pakistan’s ‘rigged polls’

ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said on Thursday the party founder would write a letter to the International Monetary Fund to highlight alleged rigging in Pakistan’s Feb 8 general elections.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Imran in jail in Rawalpindi, PTI senator Ali Zafar said a letter will be issued from Imran to the IMF about the audit of poll rigging in Pakistan. He claimed that the “people’s mandate” was stolen as those who were losing by the night of Feb 8 were declared winners next day. “Democracy cannot run with this fake mandate.”

Through the letter, Zafar said, PTI would demand an independent audit team to first investigate poll rigging and then give loans to the country. Zafar said the IMF, European Union, and other organisations have a charter stating that good governance is required for giving a loan to a country and working in it. “Leave aside pre-poll rigging, victory was snatched from PTI’s winning candidates in post-poll rigging,”he said.

Pakistan had secured a short-term $3-billion programme from IMF last year which helped it avoid a default on sovereign debt. It will expire next month and securing a new, and much bigger, loan is widely seento be the new administration’s priority. PML-N and PPP have reached an agreement to form a coalition govt. As per their deal, ex-PM Shehbaz Sharif will be the joint candidate for PM and former president Asif Ali Zardari for the office of president.

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