Former cricket star Imran Khan was sworn in as prime minister Saturday, taking on the challenge of forming a coalition to govern as a currency crisis looms over the turbulent, nuclear-armed South Asian country.
Khan won the national election last month promising to fight corruption and drastically reduce poverty among Pakistan’s 208mn mostly-Muslim people.
The ceremony at the President’s House in the capital marks the end of decades of rotating leadership between the ousted Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), punctuated by periods of army rule.
Wearing a traditional black sherwani coat, in the style of his hero and Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Khan recited the oath of office and vowed to respect the constitution.
“I will bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan,” Khan read from the oath, standing next to President Mamnoon Hussain.
A tearful Khan smiled as he stumbled over some of the words of the oath administered to him by Hussain during the ceremony, televised live by the state broadcaster PTV.
He swore to “discharge my duties and perform my functions honestly, to the best of my ability ... and always in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity, well-being and prosperity of Pakistan”.
The 65-year-old former cricketer, who captained Pakistan to World Cup victory in 1992, had won a confidence vote in the National Assembly the previous day.
In parliament on Friday he came out fighting with a speech in which he vowed to hold corrupt officials accountable.
“I promise to my God that everyone who looted this country will be made accountable,” he said in Friday’s speech to parliament.
Khan’s third wife Bushra Bibi kept her eyes cast modestly downwards during yesterday’s ceremony.
It was her first public appearance since their wedding earlier this year, and she appeared escorted by tight security and covered from head to toe in a white niqab.
Khan had invited the rest of the 1992 cricket team to the ceremony, and fast bowler Wasim Akram was pictured smiling among the crowd.
Another cricketer-turned-politician, India’s Navjot Singh Sidhu, was seated in the front row and earlier warmly embraced the powerful Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Later, he was given a guard of honour on the lawns of the Prime Minister’s House.
Hours after the oath-taking, Khan’s office released a partial list of his choice of cabinet ministers and also announced the candidate for the office of president.
Asad Umer, former chief executive of Pakistani multinational Engro, was appointed to the post of finance minister, party vice-chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi to head the foreign office, and former chief minister of the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Pervez Khattak was given charge of the defence ministry.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), or Justice Party, picked party stalwart Arif Alvi as its presidential candidate.
The president will be voted in by lawmakers from Pakistan’s upper and lower houses and the four provincial assemblies next month.
Military coups have punctuated Pakistan’s 71-year history, and Khan’s election was only the second democratic transfer of power.
If he completes his five-year term he will be the first Pakistani prime minister to do so.
His PTI has 151 of the 342 seats in the national assembly, where a vote was held on Friday to decide who would be asked to form a government.
Khan easily defeated rival Shehbaz Sharif from the outgoing PML-N party, garnering 176 votes to Sharif’s 96.
One of Khan’s first tasks as prime minister will be figuring out how to deal with a looming currency crisis that threatens to derail an economy growing at around 6% annually.
The new coalition government must urgently decide whether to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout, or seek support from China, the country Pakistan regards as its most reliable ally.
Relations with the United States are frayed, with US officials fuming over Pakistan’s alleged support for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Islamabad denies aiding the insurgents.
A massive power outage that plunged over 60% of the port city of Karachi and southwestern Baluchistan province on Friday evening starkly highlighted a chronic energy crisis the country faces.
Following Khan’s appointment, the US State Department released a congratulatory statement stressing the importance of the strategic relationship shared by the two countries.
“The United States looks forward to working with Pakistan’s new civilian government to promote peace and prosperity in Pakistan and the region,” spokesman Heather Nauert said.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Twitter that she had spoken with Khan, adding that Pakistan and the UK shared an important relationship.
“There is plenty for our two countries to work together on, not least increasing bilateral trade and mutual security issues,” May said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel congratulated Khan yesterday, wishing him “a steady hand and much success”.
“I couple your inauguration with the hope that your willingness to engage in peaceful dialogue with neighbouring countries bears fruit, and that Pakistan will contribute to the further stabilisation of the region,” Merkel wrote in a congratulatory note.
Germany will stand by Pakistan’s side in its economic development, fight against terrorism and the consolidation of democratic structures, the chancellor said.
Khan has promised to create millions of jobs and build world-class hospitals and schools in a country where more than 40% of the population is illiterate.
After spending much of his political career on the fringes, the Oxford-educated former sportsman rose to power on a populist platform, and in recent years his anti-corruption message has increasingly resonated with Pakistanis, especially the young.


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