Audit poll before bailing out Pakistan: Khan allies
The party of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan asked the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday to ensure an audit of the disputed February 8 elections is carried out before any more bailout talks with Islamabad. Pakistan's cash-strapped economy is struggling to stabilise after securing a US$3 billion standby arrangement from the IMF last summer, with record inflation, rupee devaluation and shrinking foreign reserves. Analysts say a new government – which Khan's opponents are expected to form – is likely to need more funds from the global lender after the standby arrangement expires in April. Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said that it had sent a letter on the matter to the IMF's Pakistan representative. "We have today sent this letter to IMF," the party's acting chairman Barrister Gohar Khan told a news conference in Islamabad. The letter called on the IMF to honour its commitment to demanding free and fair elections. In the last interaction between Imran Khan and IMF representatives in 2023, it said, the PTI had agreed to support the lender's financing facility for Pakistan on condition that free and fair elections be held in the country. The IMF had sought support from all political parties, including Khan's, shortly after agreeing with Islamabad on the US$3 billion standby arrangement, which the lender said was in the lead-up to national elections. "An audit of at least thirty percent of the national and provincial assemblies' seats should be ensured," the PTI said in its letter. Last week, the IMF declined to comment on the country's political situation. Mohammed Sohail, the CEO of Karachi-based Topline securities said the letter was unlikely to have a major market impact. "The IMF will do its own due diligence," he said. (Reuters)