Imran Khan languishes in jail, faces charges and numerous cases (Reuters)
Pakistan's Insaf Party leader and former prime minister Imran Khan's hopes of running in the upcoming general election have been dashed after the Islamabad High Court rejected his petition to suspend the lower court's ruling in the Tushakhana case.
This comes after leaders of Pakistan's Insaf Party announced on Wednesday that Khan will run for the general elections scheduled for the eighth of next February in 3 constituencies after the Supreme Court issued its ruling on Khan's appeal.
Imran Khan had petitioned the Supreme Court to rectify its order issued on August 28 by suspending the ruling issued by the Court of First Instance on August <>.
A court of first instance in Islamabad sentenced him to three years in prison, plus 3,100 Pakistani rupees (US$400) in what is known in Pakistan as the "Tushakhana case".
Based on this conviction, the Election Commission of Pakistan issued a decision that Imran Khan was disqualified from holding any government positions or running for election for a period of 5 years in accordance with the Pakistani Constitution and the Election Law of 2017, as stated in the Election Commission's memorandum at the time.
The Islamabad High Court on August 28 suspended his sentence in the Tushakhana case, but his conviction in the same case and his ineligibility for government office remain unchanged until the court decides on the main appeal, which the court issued today against Imran Khan.
The Tushakhana case, also known as the "gift depot" against Khan, accuses him of selling or concealing details of gifts given to him as prime minister, where he was convicted of abusing his position to sell government gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($490,<>) he received from foreign dignitaries during his visits abroad.
Hopes shattered
Ali Zafar, a Pakistani senator for the Insaf party, said on Wednesday: "We want to inform you that Imran Khan will run from at least 3 constituencies, and we hope that the Islamabad High Court will announce its verdict soon in the Tushakhana case with the announcement of the election schedule."
Zafar said the Islamabad High Court would announce its provisional ruling in the case, and would also rule on the appeal of the Insaf Party, which sought to suspend the former prime minister's conviction in the Tushakhana case.
Zafar also called on members of the Insaf Party to submit their candidacy papers for the upcoming elections, explaining that the party will give priority to members who face prison sentences to run in the elections, while party chairman Johar Khan confirmed that Imran Khan will be provided with his candidacy papers on Friday, stressing that Khan will run in these elections.
As his hopes of running in the next election are shattered, Khan remains languishing in Adiyala prison in another graft case, as well as the encryption case involving the disclosure of state secrets after a document was shown to the public during a demonstration by his party's supporters, which he says contains a threat from the United States, and legal authorities say that the document has since disappeared.
It is noteworthy that Imran Khan's government was overthrown on the tenth of April 2022 after a vote of no confidence in the Pakistani parliament in light of the wave of political tension and demonstrations led by the opposition against the policies of Khan and the Insaf Party in the economic field in particular.
Source : Al Jazeera