KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday the party’s headquarters in the country’s largest city, Karachi, had been ordered open by a court months after it was sealed in the aftermath of violent protests by Khan’s supporters in May.

Known as Insaf House, the Karachi political office of the PTI was sealed after Khan’s brief arrest on May 9 in a graft case saw hundreds of his supporters pour out on the streets across the country, ransacking military and other properties. In Karachi, party leaders used social media to call on members and supporters to gather at Insaf House, leading to hundreds of protesters converging at the headquarters on Shahrah-e-Faisal, the city’s main thoroughfare. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, after which the headquarter was closed.

“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s political office, Insaf House, has been reopened upon the orders of the court,” Falak Almas, PTI’s secretary for information in Karachi, said in a statement.

“All the activities related to the upcoming local and general elections will be initiated from the Insaf House and it will serve as a meeting place for local party representatives.” 

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) last Thursday announced a general election for January, almost three months later than scheduled, removing political uncertainty over the timing to help salvage a falling economy.

Elections in the politically and economically troubled South Asian nation were due to be held in November but were delayed due to fresh demarcation of constituencies under a new census.

An ECP statement said the vote will take place late in January after the conclusion of a process that includes filing nomination papers, appeals and campaigning.

Pakistan is currently being run by a caretaker government under interim Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar that is meant to oversee a general election. Originally, elections were to be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the lower house of parliament in August.

The election commission has already questioned the impartiality of the caretaker government led by Kakar, who comes from a pro-military party, saying it appears to be aligned with the opponents of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

As it stands, former premier Khan, the main opposition leader, cannot fight this election after he was barred from public office for five years after a corruption investigation.