Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif, who reached the National Assembly to attend the inaugural session of the Lower House of Parliament, said writing a letter to the International Monitory Fund (IMF) is tantamount to ‘anti-nationalism’.
Nawaz Sharif said: “No political party or individual can write such a letter. Who wrote a letter to the IMF? He said.
“No one else can do what PTI did,” Nawaz Sharif commented as PTI wrote a letter to the IMF ahead of the negotiations with the international lender.
“One should himself conclude the results from the letter that was written to the IMF,” Nawaz Sharif said.
Former finance minister and PML-N senior leader Ishaq Dar has stirred controversy with his recent remarks regarding various issues facing the country.
Speaking to the media at the Punjab Assembly in Lahore, Dar condemned the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) decision to write a letter to the IMF as "sad". He further said that writing the letter for personal gains against the country's economic interests was condemnable. He, however, remarked that if a letter was written to the IMF, it would have no standing.
He remarked that by writing the letter, the PTI was proving to be anti-national.
Moreover, commenting on the delay in the commencement of Punjab Assembly session, Dar criticized the speaker, stating that his agenda should not focus solely on vacating the gallery but also include important parliamentary duties such as administering oaths.
The former minister's remarks also touched upon the delay in the speaker's arrival at the Punjab Assembly, highlighting a lack of punctuality within the parliamentary proceedings.
PTI's letter to IMF
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 Feb. 8 elections is carried out before any more bailout talks with Islamabad.
Pakistan's cash-strapped economy is struggling to stabilise after securing a $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, confirming an earlier Reuters report.
"We have today sent this letter to IMF," the party's acting chairman Barrister Gohar Khan told a news conference in Islamabad.
The letter, shared with Reuters by two sources and confirmed by the party's Zulfikar Bukhari, 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 $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 after Khan's aides said they would urge the Fund to call for an independent audit of the disputed elections before any more talks with Islamabad.
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.
China has rolled over a $2 billion loan to Pakistan for one year, which is due in March, according to media reports.
Another of Khan's aides Muzammil Aslam told the news conference that the IMF delegation also met the acting party chairman late last year when the former cricket star was in jail before releasing the last tranche of the programme.
The IMF communication section said in an email to Reuters that it was yet t receive the letter, and it was yet to respond to the delegation's meeting.
