Former cricket star Imran Khan
was sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan on 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, a firebrand nationalist, won a general election last
month promising to fight corruption and drastically reduce
poverty among Pakistan's 208 million mostly-Muslim people.
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.
Later, he was given a guard of honour on the lawns of the prime
minister's house.
Military coup's 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 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), or Justice Party, holds
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
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, garnering 176 votes
to Sharif's 96 votes.
Pakistan has been plagued by economic boom-and-bust cycles
as well as by Islamist militant violence in more recent years.
And one of Khan's first calls as prime minister will be
figuring out how to deal with a looming currency crisis that
threatens to derail an economy growing at around six percent
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 U.S.
officials fuming over Pakistan's alleged support Taliban
fighters in Afghanistan. Islamabad denies aiding the insurgents.
The oath-taking was attended by scores of Pakistani
celebrities, sportsmen, and politicians, as well as former
Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, who serves as tourism
minister for India's Punjab province.
Khan has promised to create millions of jobs and build
world-class hospitals and schools in a country where more than
40 percent 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.
Khan's opponents say he owes his ascent to covert support
from the country's powerful military, though both the army and
Khan deny collusion.