Pakistani ex-Prime Minister Khan wants the IMF to link talks to an independent audit of the election
Associated PressISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan is writing a letter to the International Monetary Fund urging it to link any talks with Islamabad to an audit of the country’s recent election, which his party alleges was rigged, an official from his party said Friday. Senator Ali Zafar, a top leader from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, made his televised remarks after meeting with Khan at the Adiala prison, where he’s serving multiple prison sentences. It also comes a day after IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said the global lender was ready to work with Pakistan’s new government “on policies to ensure macroeconomic stability and prosperity for all of Pakistan’s citizens.” The Washington-based IMF hasn’t commented on Khan’s much-publicized move to write the financial agency a letter. Pakistan narrowly averted a default on foreign payments last summer when the IMF approved the much-awaited $3 billion bailout for it following monthslong talks with former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who replaced Khan after his ouster in a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022.