Oxford-educated Pathun came to power in 2018 with a promise to make ‘one’Naya Pakistan’ but miserably failed to address the basic problem of keeping commodity prices under check.
Highlight
- Khan’s 21-year cricket career influenced his 26-year political career as he was removed from the post of PM.
- Imran Khan lost the no-confidence motion as the opposition got 174 votes against Imran Khan.
- Khan became a Member of Parliament in 2002. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 2013.
Pakistan cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who turned his shaky team into champions in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, failed to replicate the same charisma in politics where he was run out in the middle of his first innings by a determined opposition. Was.
Khan, who effectively lost a majority in the 342-member National Assembly, dissolved parliament and called for fresh elections on April 3 after the deputy speaker blocked a no-confidence motion against him.
However, a five-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Omar Ata Bandiyal, in a landmark 5-0 judgment on 7 April, overruled the deputy speaker’s decision and ordered the speaker to convene a session on April 9. vote of confidence.
Khan failed to clear his toughest political test since taking office in 2018 due to defections in his party and rifts in the ruling coalition. He is the first prime minister in Pakistan whose fate was decided through a trust vote.
Oxford-educated Pathun came to power in 2018 with a promise to make ‘one’Naya Pakistan’ but miserably failed to address the basic problem of keeping commodity prices under check.
Khan apparently lost the backing of the mighty military after he refused to support the appointment of the head of the ISI spy agency last year. He eventually agreed but it soured his relationship with the military, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 75 years of existence and has so far been heavily involved in matters of security and foreign policy. power is used.
Khan, whose 21-year cricket career spanned his 26-year political journey, treated almost all opposition leaders with disdain, often using derogatory remarks against them while in power, uniting them under one banner. and gave a reason to successfully topple his government.
The last time Khan sought a vote of confidence, he Won it comfortably after a humiliating defeat in the hotly contested Senate election in March 2021,
Khan launched the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 1996, which means Movement for Justice, but sought to break the dominance of the two main political parties – the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). fought for Those who have been in power time and again when the army was not ruling the country.
Unable to break the dominance of the PML-N and PPP for years, he even once said, “Politics in Pakistan is hereditary”, referring to the leaders of the PML-N and PPP parties, which are led by the Sharif family and the Bhutto family respectively. Huh.
Khan became a Member of Parliament in 2002. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 2013.
In May 2014, a year after the elections, Khan alleged that the elections were rigged in favor of the ruling PML-N, led by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In August 2014, Khan led a rally of his supporters from Lahore to Islamabad, demanding Sharif’s resignation and an investigation into alleged electoral fraud.
Khan led his party to victory in the 2018 general elections, during which he promised to crack down on corruption, implement anti-poverty programs, improve healthcare and education, and transform his country into an Islamic welfare state Was.
While in power, Khan repeatedly spoke of making Pakistan an Islamic welfare state. However, he failed to fix the basic problem of keeping the economy and the prices of commodities under control.
On the foreign policy front, Khan had cold relations with the West, especially the US. Khan sought to forge closer ties with Russia, further cementing ties with all-weather ally China.
During Khan’s tenure, the relationship between Pakistan and India were more tense In 2019 when a Pakistan-based terror group killed 40 CRPF personnel in a suicide attack in February, forcing India to bomb terror camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Balakot.
The next day an intense aerial confrontation took place between the two countries, in which Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of the Indian Air Force was captured and later released by Pakistan.
Relations deteriorated in August 2019 after India announced the withdrawal of special powers to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories.
Khan, who insists that the Kashmir dispute remains a major issue between the two countries, raised the issue during his tenure at several forums, including at the United Nations.
India has repeatedly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and always will be” and will remain an integral part of the country.
Later in 2019, Prime Minister Khan formally inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor, paving the way for Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit one of their religion’s holiest sites in Pakistan without requiring a visa.
Khan, once considered Pakistan’s most eligible bachelor for his strong Pathani looks, married thrice. His last two marriages ended in divorce.
His first marriage was to British billionaire’s daughter Jemima Goldsmith in 1995, which lasted for 9 years. He has two sons from Khan. In 2015, her second marriage with TV anchor Reham Khan came to an end after a brief span of 10 months. In 2018, Khan married for the third time, This time with her “spiritual guide” Bushra Maneka.
Khan was born in 1952 in Mianwali to Ikramulla Khan Niazi and Shaukat Khanum. His father was a descendant of the Pashtun Niazi tribe of the Shermankhel clan.
He attended Aitchison College in Lahore and the Royal Grammar School in Worcester, England.
Khan played Test cricket for Pakistan between 1971 and 1992, and was the captain of the national team when it won the World Cup in 1992 – the country’s first and only victory in that tournament.