The caretaker government on Friday announced to write to top British daily The Economist that published an opinion piece written by former prime minister Imran Khan.

“Today, we are writing to the Editor of @TheEconomist about an article purportedly written by Mr. Imran Khan. It is puzzling and disconcerting that such an esteemed media outlet published an article in the name of an individual who is in jail and has been convicted,” caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi wrote in a post on X.

Khan wrote the piece for the British magazine “by invitation” where he spoke about the February 8 general elections and the economic situation.

“Whether elections happen or not, the manner in which I and my party have been targeted since a farcical vote of no confidence in April 2022 has made one thing clear: the establishment—the army, security agencies and the civil bureaucracy—is not prepared to provide any playing field at all, let alone a level one, for PTI,” he wrote. The piece was uploaded to the website on January 4.

Calling it critically essential to uphold ethical standards and promote responsible journalism, Solangi said that the government like to know how the editorial decision was made, and what considerations were taken into account regarding the legitimacy and credibility of the content written by the PTI founding member who is incarcerated in Adiala jail.

“We would also be interested to know if @TheEconomist has ever published such ghost articles by jailed politicians ever from any other part of the world,” the minister added.

According to Solangi, jailed convicts would always use the opportunity to air their grievances if they were free to write to the media.

While elections are scheduled to be held next month in Pakistan, human rights organisations have been expressing concerns about the lack of a level playing field granted to certain political parties.

Earlie today, the Senate of Pakistan passed a resolution calling for a delay in general elections scheduled for February 8.

The resolution, moved by Senator Dilawar Khan from KP, argued that the law and order situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not suitable for holding elections.

The resolution, apoproved with a majority vote, added that the elections should be delayed until the security situation improves.