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IMF 'unlikely' to release next $280m tranche : Imran Khan
By Our Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Sept 26: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan believes that the International Monetary Fund is not likely to release the next $280 million tranche to Islamabad because it is now becoming sceptical about the proper use of the assistance.
Corrupt officials are LINING THEIR POCKETS with IMF MONEY
Speaking at a news conference here on Sunday, Mr Khan cited the example of Russia and said he had a strong feeling that ,the IMF suspected that the corrupt elements in the government alone were benefiting from the funds meant for structural changes in fiscal administration. "IMF's honeymoon with Islamabad seems to be over now", he said.
The PTI chief has recently been in the United States in connection with a fund-raising campaign for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust Hospital. He met some State Department officials and also spoke at the Centre for Strategic
International Studies, an American think-tank in Washington.
On the basis of what he learnt in the US and the inferences drawn from talks with US officials and legislators, he said, the US government did not seem to be happy with the way peaceful opposition rallies were being crushed in Karachi by brute force.
Sharif Brothers - Could be out of Job, WASHINGTON OFFERS A HELPING HAND??
"Washington cannot now save the Sharifs, though they have been begging for longevity in power. This stage has come because they have simply lost credibility. A change is round the corner", he said in reply to a question.
Pakistan asks for Washington's blessings and approval of PAKISTAN'S CHIEF OF ARMY. Paki Army, the latest under SCREW LIST
Mr Khan also claimed that the rulers were again changing the Pakistan Army's leadership. He said the government had sent its candidate for the office of the chief of army staff to Washington "for approval". He said the rulers had undermined all state institutions and were now after the only surviving
institution, the army.
Passing the Buck. The BUCK stops in Washington
According to him, on both their recent visits to the US the Sharifs had talked against the army. In the first instance, Mr Nawaz Sharif had held the army responsible for the Kargil episode. As a result, the Pakistan army was dubbed by Indians as a "rogue army". Now, he said, Mr Shahbaz Sharif had complained that the army was not allowing a smooth sailing to civilian rule.
"Both the brothers beseeched Washington to save them from army; now that they (the rulers) are afraid of the army, they want to bring about a change to their liking", he added.
KHAN sides with COMMON MAN
Mr Khan said the rulers had also been telling Washington that their removal would pave the way for a Taliban-like administration. He said extremism in Pakistan was rooted in the denial of socio-economic justice to the common man.
Mr Khan said the army did not want an extra-constitutional change in the country but the rulers were afraid of a popular uprising.
The PTI chief called for an inquiry into the financial affairs of both the Shaukat Khanum Trust Hospital and the Ittefaq Hospital. The call was in response to the allegation that he was using hospital funds for his political campaign. He said the Ittefaq Hospital, and not the Shaukat Khanum Hospital was making profits. He said both the SKMTH and the Ittefaq Hospital were registered charities and their funds must be used for the welfare of the patients. |
