Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan has asked the United States to raise its voice against rigging in Pakistan’s elections.

Speaking to reporters outside Adiala Jail after a meeting with Khan, party leader Barrister Saif said that Imran believed there is an opportunity for the US to clear up its role for democracy in Pakistan.

“The US has an opportunity to clear up its past role and make it more credible and more democratic,” Saif said.

He also quoted Khan as saying that US should use its influence to effectively counter the rigging in Pakistan.

The statement from Khan has been met with surprise, as the former PM has accused the US of being behind his ouster from power in 2022. This could be the ‘past role’ referred to by Saif in the statement.

Khan has already been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the cipher case, which accused him of divulging the contents of a classified diplomatic cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington.

He had claimed that the contents of the cipher were evidence of US-backed conspiracy to ouster him. The claims first came a few days he was removed through a vote of no-confidence.

For its part, the US has called Pakistan’s elections ‘competitive’ but asked for rigging clais to be investigated.