Daily Times

The PPP Senator Raza Rabbani has termed the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) meetings with political parties in Pakistan ahead of its executive board’s approval for a $3 billion deal “an erosion of political sovereignty”.

Meanwhile, he said, the “financial sovereignty has already been surrendered”.

The minister’s remarks were quoted in a press release issued by the Senate on Saturday, a day after the IMF held meetings with the PPP and opposition PTI to seek assurances of their support for a $3bn standby arrangement, the staff-level pact for which was reached between the global lender and Islamabad last week as an older programme expired.

The meetings came almost a week before a meeting of the IMF executive board will review the $3 billion arrangement for Pakistan on July 12. Commenting on the matter, Rabbani said “Return of the East India Company, when notables were asked to support the company’s policies.”

He went on to question “What will be the fate of political parties that support privatisation and retrenchment of workers. Will the election commission take exception to their manifestos.” The IMF’s meetings with the economic teams of the PPP and PTI were held Friday after the global lender’s resident representative for Pakistan, Ester Perez Ruiz, said IMF staff was in the process of meeting with representatives of major political parties in Pakistan – including PML-N, PPP, and PTI – to seek assurances of their support for the key objectives and policies under a new IMF-supported programme ahead of the approaching national elections.