PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s decision to appeal to the IMF to make an ‘electoral audit’ a condition of releasing the remaining tranche of its ongoing programme, or of agreeing to w new programme, reflects both a sort of desperation to appeal for help wherever possible, as well as a tacit acknowledgement that it is the key lever to press. This is not the first time the IMF has been involved, though this will indeed be the first time someone without a government position will approach the IMF. It will also be the first time the IMF will be asked to intervene in a member’s politics. The PTI argument, as relayed by Senator Ali Zafar after meeting Mr Khan in Adiala Jail, was that the IMF wanted good governance, including democracy, when lending to members. This seems a little ambitious, because the IMF has been perfectly happy entering programmes with military rulers, not just in Pakistan, but anywhere. The IMF, like the UN, but not the World Bank, has had to accommodate the USSR and its bloc during the Cold War, and thus has no problems dealing with what Western nations would consider undemocratic.
This is not the first time the PTI has tried to queer the government’s pitch with the IMF. The episode, where Shaukat Tarin, ousted as PM’s Finance Adviser, tried to get the Finance Ministers of KP and Punjab to write to the IMF saying they would not be part of a deal with the IMF, has not entirely faded from the public memory. Then there is the impression that the caretaker government did not go beyond the February 8 election date because of IMF. Clearly, the PTI believes this is what happened. The PTI’s own record in office is ambiguous. In the 2018 election campaign, Mr Khan repeatedly promised not to have recourse to the IMF, but when he came to office, did exactly that. However, he did not precisely follow all the terms of his government’s agreement with it.
There is an inescapable element of washing one’s dirty linen in public. Mr Khan seems to be aware that one of the plus-points of the PDM government was its willingness to take the most unpopular measures to keep the IMF happy, because the IMF’s good graces meant continued access to the world’s money markets, and avoiding a default with all its negative and painful consequences. Mr Khan’s message will almost surely not be honoured, but the pressure it will put on the government will be a weapon in the hands of the IMF.
