Pakistani ex-Prime Minister Khan wants the IMF to link talks to an independent audit of the election

ISLAMABAD (AP) — 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.

The latest development came days before the IMF releases a key installment of a bailout loan to Pakistan.

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.

Khan has come under severe criticism at home from his rivals who claim Khan tried to block a tranche of $1 billion from the IMF to Pakistan to harm the country’s economy.

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.

Sharif is in talks with his allies to form a coalition government because no party could get a majority in the Feb. 8 vote.

On Friday, Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League or PML-N has emerged as the largest party after it got 20 seats out of the 60 reserved for women, and four seats out of 10 reserved for minorities, officials said. Nine independent members