Pakistani politician Imran Khan has said he will contest the 2018 general elections as Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s prime ministerial candidate, Reuters reported on Monday. The former cricketer said he was confident of winning the election and becoming the next head of the country.
Khan described the disqualification of Sharif as the turning point of law and said, “We actually are moving towards a general democracy,” Reuters reported.
Analysts are, however, divided on whether Khan can defeat Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) in the elections, Reuters added.
On July 28, Sharif quit after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding office for life over a corruption scandal stemming from Panama Papers. The documents had revealed that his family owned several illegally acquired offshore properties and businesses.
The judges had said that Sharif had cheated the Parliament and the courts, and was not fit to hold the position. The top court has ordered for the corruption case to be referred to the National Accountability Bureau.
Khan had spearheaded the demands for an investigation into this scandal.
Pakistan’s Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be the interim Prime Minister of Pakistan, Sharif announced on Saturday. He also confirmed that his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif will be the party’s candidate for prime minister.
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