Less than one year after its founding, PTI contested its first elections in the 1997 general elections, when Khan unsuccessfully stood from seven constituencies. In the 2002 general elections, the party won 0.8% of the popular vote with 1 out of 272 elected members.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, for the first time since its founding in 1996, did not contest the Pakistani general election on 18 February 2008. The reason given was that Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was put under house arrest by General (ret.) Pervez Musharrafand not allowed to work.
