Pakistan’s World Cup cricket hero Imran Khan was formally elected prime minister yesterday, promising a new era of responsibility and prosperity in a fighting speech in parliament.
He won a simple majority in a confidence vote held in the lower house of parliament.
“I am here after 22 years of struggle. No dictator has taken care of me. I am standing here in this parliament on my own feet,” he told the assembly after the vote.
Clad in a waistcoat and traditional white shalwar kameez garments, he smiled broadly and could be seen wiping tears from his eyes while clutching prayer beads as the count was announced.
The July 25 election was branded “Pakistan’s dirtiest” after accusations through the campaign that the military was trying to tilt the playing field against the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and in Khan’s favour.
The former cricketer, who captained Pakistan to World Cup victory in 1992, won the July 25 election but fell short of an outright majority, forcing him to partner with smaller parties and independents in order to form a government.
Rival parties have alleged “blatant” rigging, and yesterday’s proceedings triggered raucous scenes as opposition parliamentarians shouted protest slogans in the assembly.
“The whole nation has rejected this election,” said PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif, demanding an investigation of electoral irregularities.
Murtaza Abbasi, a PML-N lawmaker, said in parliament Khan was “brought here by aliens”, a euphemism for the military.
The army and Khan have denied the claims.
In his speech, Khan urged the opposition to continue their protests.
National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said Khan had secured 176 votes.
He had needed 172 votes for a majority.
His only rival, the PML-N’s Sharif, won 96 votes, Qaiser said, with some opposition parties including the third-largest Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) abstaining from the vote.
The result brings Khan one step closer to ending decades of rotating leadership between the PML-N and the PPP, punctuated by periods of military rule.
He is due to be sworn in at a ceremony today.
Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party campaigned on promises to end widespread graft while building an “Islamic welfare state”.
He has promised to create millions of jobs and build world-class hospitals and school systems in the mainly-Muslim country of 208mn people.
“I promise that we will bring that change, for which this nation was starving,” he said in his address to the assembly. “First of all, we will start strict accountability.
“I promise to my God that everyone who looted this country will be made accountable.”
The party has already formed a government in its stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and an alliance with regional parties in the southwestern province of Baluchistan.
It is expected to form a coalition government in Punjab province, formerly a PML-N stronghold, in coming days.
Sindh province remained in the hands of the PPP.
PTI candidates were also voted speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly this week, putting the prime minister in a strong position to carry forward his legislative agenda.
He will face myriad challenges including militant extremism, water shortages, and a booming population negating growth in the developing country, among others.
Most pressing will be a looming economic crisis, with speculation that Pakistan will have to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He will also have to contend with the same issue as many of his predecessors: how to maintain a balance of power in civil-military relations.
Khan’s election was only the second democratic transfer of power since Pakistan’s 1947 independence, and came at a time when relations with on-off ally the United States are fraying over alleged Pakistani support for militants waging war in Afghanistan.
Islamabad denies aiding insurgents.
The Senate, the upper house, is controlled by the opposition.
“Legislative business will be difficult for him,” said Raza Ahmad Rumi, editor of the Daily Times newspaper.
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