Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Saturday took oath as the 22nd Prime Minister of the country at the President House here. Khan was administered the oath by Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain.
The ceremony was attended by former cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who arrived in Pakistan yesterday, several former cricketers including legendary pacer Wasim Akram, top officials from the Pakistan Army, Air Force and Navy, among a host of other high-profile dignitaries.
Guests were required to carry National Identification Cards or accreditation cards and were barred from bringing handbags, mobile phones or any electronic devices.
On Friday, Khan was elected as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan, defeating his rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Shehbaz Sharif. While, the 65-year-old cricketer-turned-politician bagged 176 seats, Sharif, the PML-N president and the brother of jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, managed to secure just 96 seats, The Dawn reported.
In the July 25 general elections, the PTI had emerged as the single largest party with 116 seats. The number increased to 158 in the NA after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued notifications of the successful candidates on the reserved seats for women and the minority community on August 11.
Earlier, after being elected as the Prime Minister, Khan pledged to bring a change which according to him “the country was awaiting for last 70 years”. He assured to identify the people accountable for “looting the country”, as per the report.
“Those who stole this nation’s money and stashed it abroad, I will bring them all to accountability. We will together debate and think on how to generate our own revenues so that we never have to be dependent on another country,” he said while thanking the youth of Pakistan for supporting him.
Recounting his journey of 22 years from a cricketer to a politician, Khan asserted that no “military dictator nurtured” him and he has reached this height with his own “struggle and accord.”
The ceremony was also graced by his wife Bushra Maneka.
Apart from bagging the Prime Minister’s seat, PTI candidates were also elected as the speaker and the deputy speaker of the National Assembly. (ANI)