LONDON: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) supremo Imran Khan will apply for the position of chancellor at Oxford University despite currently serving a ten-year jail sentence.
Sayed Zulfi Bukhari, Imran’s adviser on international affairs, told Geo News that the seat at Oxford University has become vacant following the resignation of 80-year-old Lord Patten, who stepped down after 21 years in the role, and Imran will be running for the post. Former prime ministers Sir Tony Blair and Boris Johnson are also among the candidates to become the university’s chancellor.
Khan studied Economics and Politics at Keble College, Oxford in 1972, and also captained 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.
Bukhari cited public demand for Imran’s participation. “We will announce it publicly once we get a go-ahead from Khan and start the signature campaign for it. He’s the most suited person right now for this post and we hope he will win the contest,” Bukhari said.
Oxford University describes the chancellor’s role as a ceremonial head, typically an eminent public figure elected for life, presiding over all major ceremonies. The election process for the new chancellor will be conducted online for the first time, allowing the university’s 350,000-strong convocation to participate.
The PTI founder is currently imprisoned on charges of inciting protests and violence against the military in May of the previous year, allegations which he denies. In a recent interview from jail, he stated, “I am confined in a 7ft by 8ft death cell, typically reserved for terrorists. People voted for me because they are fed up with the current system and how Pakistan is being run.”
This will be the first time the chancellor elections will be held online, instead of the traditional process requiring graduates to attend in full academic dress. The position typically goes to university graduates, often politicians.
Khan faces competition from former prime ministers Sir Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, making the competition tough but Bukhari said he was hopeful that the PTI founder will win. “We await approval from Khan and the campaign will begin,” he said.
Since Khan’s imprisonment in August 2023, the UN has described his detention as having no legal basis, with hundreds of his supporters arrested and the government indicating its intention to ban PTI.
His candidacy news was shared by Bukhari and Lord Hannan at an event this week in the House of Lords where nearly two dozen UK Parliament members called for his immediate release.
The demand for his release was made at a recent hearing in the House of Lord’s Committee Room about the erosion of democratic norms in Pakistan and the “illegal incarceration” of former prime minister.
The hearing was jointly convened by Labour MP for Bradford West Naz Shah, and Conservative Peer, Lord Hannan of Kingsclere. Bukhari, PTI leader Meher Bano Qureshi, were guest speakers, as was Sarwar Bari, founder of Pattan Development.
This hearing was attended by over 22 parliamentarians from all major parties, including the former Leader of the Conservative Party and Cabinet Minister Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, the former Home Secretary Priti Patel MP, former Security Minister Baroness Neville-Jones, former Minister of State in the Foreign Office Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and former Conservative Party Chairwoman and Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi.
Newly elected independent MPs Shockat Adam, Barrister Ayoub Khan, Iqbal Mohammad and Labour’s Naushabah Khan were also in attendance. PTI UK’s leader Jahanzeb Khan was also in attendance as well as four other office bearers.
