According to his party, Imran Khan, the incarcerated former prime minister of Pakistan, has submitted an application to take over as chancellor of the esteemed University of Oxford in Britain.
As prime minister from 2018 to 2022, Khan just celebrated one year in prison for a number of offenses ranging from inciting violence to corruption, which he claimed were politically motivated and intended to keep him out of office.
“Imran Khan had given instructions that he would like to submit his application and now the application scrutiny will take place,” Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, the London-based spokesman for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, told AFP.
“It’s a ceremonial post but one with utmost prestige and importance and Imran Khan, being one of the larger or more popular names coming out of Oxford, it would be brilliant to see him as chancellor,” he said.
In February, Chris Patten, a Conservative peer and the final British governor of Hong Kong, announced his resignation as chancellor of Oxford.
According to the university website, the list of candidates for the ten-year term will not be made public until October. Voting will take place at the end of the month.
After pursuing studies in economics, politics, and philosophy at Oxford, Khan earned his degree in 1975.
Throughout his tenure as one of Pakistan’s best cricket players, he lived a playboy lifestyle and frequently appeared in British gossip magazines.
He was married three times, the last to British socialite and film director Jemima Goldsmith. He thereafter became involved in politics and philanthropy.
When he was prime minister, women’s rights organizations attacked him for associating Pakistan’s high incidence of sexual assault with women’s attire.
After being removed from office in 2022, Khan began a campaign of resurgence during which he attacked Pakistan’s formidable military, which had previously received support from its top generals, and he brought enormous crowds onto the country’s streets.
“If he does become the chancellor, he would be the first of Asian descent. It wouldn’t be something only for Pakistan, but it would be a great achievement for all of Asia and the rest of the world,” Bukhari said.
British media sources state that former foreign secretary William Hague and former EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson are among the other well-known applicants and Oxford alumni.
