What does Imran Khan's conviction mean for Pakistan's election?

What does Imran Khan's conviction mean for Pakistan's election?

By Ariba Shahid

Former Pakistani Prime Minister and cricket star Imran Khan was jailed for 14 years on Wednesday on charges of illegally selling state gifts, a day after he received a 10-year sentence for leaking state secrets.

The convictions come days before a national election scheduled for Feb. 8.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

RSF index reveals that press freedom gaps widened globally in 2025

Here are some facts on how these sentences influence his political future, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, and the upcoming election:

- Khan, 71, was already barred from holding public office for five years following an earlier graft conviction, which ruled him out of next week's polls.

- Wednesday's sentence extends that ban on Khan from holding public office to 10 years, which means he could not be prime minister again until 2034.

- The convictions also mean Khan, in jail since August, will not be able to come out of jail to campaign for his party's candidates in the election.

- Khan's absence has already left his party in disarray, with many key aides jailed, on the run, or having abandoned him in the face of a spate of legal challenges.

- There are a number of candidates backed by Khan and his party that are contesting next week's election, but there are no big political names to carry his party in his absence.

- PTI is temporarily being led by a little known lawyer, Gohar Ali Khan, who is also Khan's legal counsel.

- On Jan. 14, Khan's party was stripped of its traditional electoral symbol of a cricket bat in a court ruling, which means his candidates are contesting as independents.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

G7 and European leaders discuss Ukraine plan on margins of G20, sources say

- Even if PTI-backed candidates win, as independents they are not bound to stay with the party and are open to joining other parties - and Khan remaining in jail for the foreseeable future increases the chances of this.

- The support of victorious independent candidates in the aftermath of the polls will be crucial for any party vying to secure the numbers necessary in parliament to form a government.