Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan to contest elections for chancellor of Oxford University from jail: Report

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is currently in jail, will apply for the post of Oxford University Chancellor, United Kingdom-based The Telegraph reported quoting his advisor on international media, Syed Zulfi Bukhari, as saying. 

Khan has been in jail for about one year. Notably, all four convictions handed down to him ahead of a parliamentary election in February have either been suspended or overturned. 

However, authorities rearrested Khan and his wife in an old corruption case on charges of selling state gifts unlawfully after being acquitted on the last of those four convictions. He also faces an accusation of inciting his supporters to attack military installations last year. 

Also read: Imran Khan’s PTI announces countrywide protest for release of all arrested leaders 

Despite all the legal troubles, Khan has decided to run for the post, with former UK Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson reportedly being Khan's opponents. 

"Imran Khan will contest for the chancellor of Oxford University as there is a public demand that he should contest," Bukhari told The Telegraph. 

"We will announce it publicly once we get a go-ahead from Khan and start the signature campaign for it," he further added. 

Also read: India and China to discuss withdrawal of thousands of troops stationed along LAC 

The report mentioned that the seat was vacant after the resignation of 80-year-old Lord Patten, who is the former governor of Hong Kong and Tory Party chairman. He held the post for 21 years. 

Khan was a student of Economics and Politics at Keble College, Oxford in 1972. He was also the captain of the university's cricket team. 

He debuted for Pakistan's Test cricket team in 1971 and served as the chancellor of Bradford University from 2005 to 2014. 

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Police arrest Khan's aides 

On Monday (July 22), Pakistan police arrested two aides of the former Pakistan PM in a raid on his party's secretariat.

A police contingent cordoned off the secretariat in Islamabad and detained the party's acting chairman Gohar Khan and its secretary information Rauf Hasan, a party spokesman Zulfikar Bukhari told the news agency Reuters in a WhatsApp message. 

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party later said the acting chairman had been released shortly after being detained. 

(With inputs from agencies)