WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government negotiates with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the release of the final tranche of the $3 billion Standby Arrangement (SBA), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers staged a demonstration outside the global lender’s Washington headquarters on Saturday over alleged rigging in the February 8 polls, according to The News.
The demonstration, organized by “First Pakistan Global,” said that the PTI’s National Assembly seats were “reduced” to 90 from 180 in the general elections. PTI founder Imran Khan’s former chief of staff Shehbaz Gill and PTI spokesperson in the United States, Sajjad Burki, were in attendance.
In their speeches, the demonstrators stressed that the PTI was not stopping the IMF from supporting Pakistan, but rather urged them to interact with elected representatives to guarantee that monies were used responsibly by the government.
They stated that the PTI mandate had been stolen, and that the party that won the majority had been denied the opportunity to establish the government. “Results demonstrate that this is not the representative assembly. “This is not the will of the people,” Burki told The News.
