Pakistan Blocks Khan’s Bid to Contest Polls from Two Seats

(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's election panel said it has rejected former prime minister Imran Khan's bid to contest the 2024 elections from two constituencies. 

Khan's nomination papers to contest from his hometown Mianwali, as well as Lahore were rejected, the Election Commission of Pakistan's Secretary Omar Hamid Khan said in text message on Sunday. Khan has also sought to contest from capital Islamabad, according to his lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha. 

While the status of his nomination from Islamabad is not clear, the poll panel's decision to turn down his bid to contest from the other two seats can be challenged in a court. 

Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, in a post on X, said that almost 90% of the nomination papers of key leaders, including Khan, were rejected while all of the nomination papers of other parties were accepted.  

“We are going to stay in the election race, we are not going to step out, we are not going to back off,” said Raoof Hassan, PTI's central information secretary. “We are going to use our constitutional, legal and political options.”

The Times of India newspaper had earlier reported that Khan's nomination papers from Lahore was rejected as he isn't a registered voter in that constituency, and has been convicted and disqualified from running for office. 

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Any new government after the election will be tasked with reviving Pakistan's economy, which averted a default this year thanks to a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. A clear mandate is key to ending political uncertainty that has gripped Pakistan since Khan was ousted last year in a parliamentary no-confidence vote.

--With assistance from Rakesh Sharma and Yi Wei Wong.

(Updates throughout with new details.)

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