ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has been dropped out of the race to become Oxford University’s chancellor, dealing a severe blow to the party activists who were celebrating his application for the esteemed position.
Oxford University has released a list of 38 eligible candidates for the election, but former prime minister Khan’s name was not among them, meaning the administration has disqualified him for the contest.
The university administration said that open applications were invited for the first time and the chancellor election committee reviewed all applications according to regulations.
Earlier, overseas PTI leadership including Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari spearheaded a campaign to get global support for Khan to contest for the chancellorship of Oxford University. The primary objective was to highlight the incarceration of the leader at international level as PTI sees that he has been detained on fabricated charges.
The former cricketer-turned-politician graduated from Oxford in 1975 after studying philosophy, politics and economics. Previously, he served as the chancellor of the University of Bradford from 2005 to 2014.
The vote for the first round of the contest for the chancellorship will be cast on October 28 and top five candidates will proceed to the second round of voting.
Prominent candidates include former Conservative party leader and foreign secretary William Hague, Labour party former EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, Scottish lawyer Elish Angiolini and former attorney general Dominic Grieve.
The winner will succeed former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten, who left in June after 21 years.
“It’s extremely unfortunate that Oxford University has excluded Imran Khan’s name from the Oxford Chancellor Election,” said Bukhari in a statement posted on X. My lawyers have written to the university asking for their reasons, he said, admitting his failure in this “endeavour.”
Bukhari, a London-based close aide to the ex-premier, explained that they had taken several lawyers and barristers’ opinions prior to his application. “This is a loss for Oxford Uni to present itself as a global trend setting institution,” he said and apologized to all those who have supported globally.