Sharif leads the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, and had filed papers registering him as a candidate for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections, Dawn TV News reported.

However, a rival candidate complained he had a criminal record as a result of the 1999 coup by Pervez Musharraf that ousted Sharif, the BBC said. The elections judge agreed, and Sharif was ruled ineligible to run.

He went into exile after the coup, and returned to Pakistan last week.

Sharif said he would meet with the People's Party, another opposition party led by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, to try to agree on an opposition boycott of the elections, the report said.

Bhutto has said in the past her party would participate in the elections, Dawn said.