Imran Khan
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
August 17, 2018
Pakistani lawmakers has voted to elect former cricket star and longtime politician Imran Khan as the country’s next prime minister.
Khan won 176 votes, a majority of the 342 seats in the lower house of parliament, after his Tehrik-e Insaf party won the most seats in the July 25 general elections.
Khan will formally take office after a swearing-in ceremony scheduled for August 18.
Tehrik-e Insaf fell short of the 172 seats needed for an outright majority. But it has negotiated a coalition deal with several smaller parties and independent lawmakers in order to acquire backing from a total of 180 deputies.
Imran Khan’s closest challenger was Shahbaz Sharif from former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
That former ruling party won only 92 seats in the July elections amid a corruption scandal and court ruling that led to Nawaz Sharif’s resignation and his disqualification from holding public office.
With reporting by PTI, AP, and AFP