Islamabad, JULY25: Former prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan will run for the office of chancellor at Oxford University, while serving his prison sentence in Pakistan.
The well-known politician and cricket player plans to pursue the position of Chancellor at Oxford University despite serving a ten-year prison sentence. Following Lord Patten’s resignation, the post fell vacant. Lord Patten had been chancellor for 21 years.
According to Oxford University, the chancellor is the ceremonial leader of the organization and is typically a well-known public figure who is chosen for life to preside over important ceremonies. For the first time, the convocation of the university, which consists of some 350,000 members, will choose a new chancellor via an online poll.
At Keble College in Oxford, where he started studying politics and economics in 1972, Imran Khan also captained the college’s cricket team. In 1971, he played his first Test match for Pakistan. Khan became Bradford University’s chancellor in 2005 and remained in that role until 2014.
“Imran Khan will run for Oxford University chancellor because the public wants him to,” Syed Zulfi Bukhari, the candidate’s foreign media advisor, told The Telegraph. “As soon as Khan gives his approval, we will make a formal announcement and begin the petition drive.”
Khan’s prospects of gaining the job may be limited because former prime ministers Sir Tony Blair and Boris Johnson will be fierce competitors. Regarding the validity of their 2018 marriage, a Pakistani court recently reversed Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi’s conviction and seven-year sentence. In spite of this, fresh legal actions were taken to stop Khan from being released.
