The jailed leader’s attempt to overturn his disqualification after the electoral body rejected his conviction in a corruption case.

Pakistan’s electoral body has rejected former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s nomination for the 2024 general elections. Khan’s Pakistan Tahreek-e Insaf (PTI) party has accused authorities of barring most of its candidates from taking part in the February elections.

The 71-year-old former cricket star, who is serving a three-year prison sentence for corruption, has been banned from politics for five years by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Nevertheless, he still submitted nomination papers on Friday.

Election officials rejected Khan’s candidacy because of his conviction, saying he was disqualified under the constitution, according to documents obtained by the AP. They also rejected the candidacies of former members of his cabinet.

The ECP on Saturday released a list of rejected candidates from Lahore, which also included Khan’s name. It said the former prime minister could not become a candidate because he was not a registered voter in the constituency and because he had been “convicted by the court”.

According to his media team, the cricketer-turned-politician’s nomination was also rejected in his hometown of Mianwali in Punjab province.

Khan has not been seen in public since his detention in August in the corruption case in which he was accused of illegally selling state gifts while in office.

Last week, the Supreme Court granted him bail Case alleging he leaked state secretsbut he continues to battle a barrage of legal cases that have dogged him since his ouster last year.

Most popular leader

Khan, widely considered the country’s most popular leader, has alleged that Pakistan’s powerful military is working with traditional parties to destroy his political party and prevent him from running for office again.

The military has historically played an important role in the country’s politics, ruling directly for decades since independence from British rule in 1947.

The 71-year-old leader has also blamed the Pakistani military and the US government conspired to overthrow his government after visiting Moscow shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Washington and the Pakistani military have rejected the allegations.

However, in August, US-based news site The Intercept published what it claimed were details of a secret diplomatic cable suggested that the US government wanted to remove Khan from power.

The ECP had previously ruled that Khan’s PTI party would not be allowed to contest parliamentary elections with its cricket bat logo, but the high court in the northwestern city of Peshawar ruled earlier this week gave his team a legal victory by suspending the order.

In addition to 71-year-old Khan, the election commission also rejected nomination papers of other senior members of his party, including deputy leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

However, the commission has accepted a nomination bid from former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from two constituencies, weeks after a court overturned two corruption convictions.

But Sharif, too has faced legal challenges for years and returned home in October to end a four-year self-imposed exile in the UK, has yet to lift a lifetime ban from holding public office, for which a hearing will be held in January.

The PTI has blamed the Pakistani authorities rejected 90 percent of his party candidates’ nominations At the same time, nomination papers of other parties are allowed, including Sharif’s Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).