The former World Cup cricket captain Imran Khan has been sworn in as Pakistan’s prime minister. His swearing in ceremony marks the end of decades of rotating leadership between two establishment parties, accompanied by periods of military rule of the nuclear armed country of 207 million people.
The 65-year-old, wearing a traditional black sherwani and black glasses, shed a tear and smiled as he stumbled over some of the words of the oath.
He was accompanied by his third wife, Bushra Bibi, formerly known as Bushra Maneka, who he wed earlier this year.
It was her first public appearance since the wedding, and wearing a traditional white niqab she was flanked by tight security.
The swearing-in ceremony came a day after Oxford graduate Mr Khan won a simple majority from MPs, three weeks after the 25 July general election.
After winning the confidence vote he promised a new era of responsibility and prosperity in an emotive speech, saying he would combat Pakistan’s endemic corruption and break powerful landowners’ monopoly on political power.
I promise that we will bring that change, for which this nation was starving, he told MPs during a raucous parliament session on Friday, which saw the opposition chant protest slogans against him.
Branded Pakistan’s dirtiest election, the military was accused during the campaign of attempting to influence people to vote for Mr Khan.
The army and Mr Khan have denied claims from opposition parties of blatant vote rigging.
Mr Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party fell short of an outright majority, forcing him to partner with smaller parties and independents to form a government.
The former cricketer has been on a long road to lead the country, forming his party in 1996 – four years after he led Pakistan to World Cup victory in 1992 – with a vow to create a corruption-free new Pakistan with justice for all.
Over the past two decades he has challenged the parties of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari.
Mr Sharif, who was prime minister for eight years intermittently between 1990 and last year, was disqualified in 2017 from contesting the election as he is serving a 10-year jail term in a corruption case involving the purchase of luxury apartments in London.
His younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, was Mr Khan’s opposition candidate and insisted last month’s elections were manipulated in Mr Khan’s favour.