Islamabad, Aug 19 (EFE).- Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, in prison since August 2023, aspires to become rector of Oxford University in the internal elections that the prestigious British academic institution will hold on October 28, sources from the former president’s party confirmed to EFE.
“Following the instructions of Imran Khan, an application form has been submitted for the election of the Chancellor of Oxford University in 2024. Voting will be held online on October 28,” Syed Zulfikar Bukhari, an advisor to Imran Khan, explained to EFE.
Neither Khan’s candidacy nor that of his potential opponents has yet been officially announced by Oxford University. The institution’s electoral calendar provides for the list of candidates to be made public in early October.
Since 2003, the post has been held by conservative Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong before the enclave was handed over to China in 1997.
The role of chancellor at Oxford University is elected by members of Convocation, an internal body made up of alumni and staff of the university.
The chancellor – a position similar to that of a rector, but without effective functions in the running of the university – can remain in office for life, according to the statutes of the institution founded 928 years ago.
Khan, 71, was chancellor of Britain’s Bradford University from 2005 to 2015, three years before taking over as Pakistan’s executive leader from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted in a parliamentary vote.
Accused of corruption and imprisoned since August 2023, the former prime minister and cricket star faces hundreds of cases against him that prevent him from leaving prison.
If elected rector, Khan would be associated for the second time with a university in the British city, where he studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics in the 1970s at Keble College.
Khan also excelled in sports at the time, joining his university cricket team, a sport in which he would later make his mark and become an idol for Pakistani fans, whose team he captained to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Khan’s potential rivals in the race for the Oxford rectorship could include the former head of the British Crown Prosecutors in Scotland and headmistress of St Hugh’s College, Elish Angiolini; the former president of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, Margaret Casely-Hayford; or former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson.
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