(Islamabad) The candidacy of imprisoned former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and those of most of his supporters in February’s parliamentary elections have been rejected, his party officials announced on Sunday.
Imran Khan – detained since August – claims the military has colluded with dynasties in power for many years to crush his populist movement and prevent him from running in elections as a leading figure for his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
“The nominations of almost all PTI national and provincial leaders, including Imran Khan, have been rejected,” party spokesperson Raoof Hasan said after nominations for the poll closed.
“90% to 95% of our candidates’ files were rejected,” detailed the official, denouncing a strategy aimed at preventing PTI candidates from running in the elections.
“All tactics are used for this purpose, but under no circumstances will we leave the political field and boycott the elections,” he said.
An electoral commission official told AFP that several candidatures of PTI members had been rejected, including that of Imran Khan, on the basis of court convictions.
The commission must announce the final list of candidates on January 23. The PTI’s protests over the exclusion of many of its members from the electoral process are likely to result in legal action or before the electoral commission.
“We will participate in the elections and appeal all these decisions in each of the constituencies and use all our constitutional, legal and political options,” Mr. Hasan said.
Imran Khan, 71, was ousted last year after falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military leaders who backed him to power in 2018.
In opposition, he led an unprecedented campaign against the military who directly ruled the country for much of its history.
He accused them of having precipitated his fall from power through a vote of censure via a plot supported by the United States and of having fomented an assassination attempt against him which left him injured.
After unrest following his incarceration in May, the PTI suffered a widespread crackdown, seeing its leaders imprisoned or forced to leave the party.