Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan made a dramatic U-turn on his decision to fight in the forthcoming National Assembly by-polls, opting not to contest any of them, multiple Pakistani news outlets reported on Saturday.
Khan's latest move comes days after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) chose to form a larger bench to hear a plea that seeks his disqualification from the electoral process because he failed to mention the details of "his daughter Tyrian Jade White" in his nomination papers.
The cricketer-turned-politician had argued before the court that the petition should be dismissed because it was "not maintainable and may not be proceeded."
The PTI chief stated he was no longer a member of the National Assembly, and thus, the plea held no legal ground in a court of law.
Last year, the petitioner Sajid Mahmood had alleged that Khan had not disclosed that he was paying for Tyrian White's expenses in the affidavits and nomination papers filed to contest elections in the South Asian nation.
Late last month, senior PTI politician Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that the 1992 Cricket World Cup winning captain would be the opposition party's candidate in all the National Assembly constituencies that would be going to polls next month.
"Imran Khan will be PTI's candidate for all constituencies that [are up for grabs] and our [ex-]MNAs, who were earlier elected for those seats, will be covering candidates," Qureshi said last week.
These seats fell vacant after the lawmakers representing them resigned from the National Assembly before Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted their resignations.
The Election Commission of Pakistan then announced by-polls on the vacant seats, which will be held on 19 March this year.