Khan at the top of this game Cricket star
Reuters reporter Idrees Ali profiles ‘‘Kaptaan’’ Khan’s journey from sports icon to Pakistan’s likely next PM.
FOR Pakistani cricket legendturnedpolitician Imran Khan, his party’s first place in a national election, putting him on the brink of becoming the country’s next prime minister, is the culmination of a battle that started more than two decades ago.
For years, he was dismissed as a political dilettante who could not convert his personal popularity into significant seats in parliament for the Pakistan TehreekiInsaf (PTI), or Pakistan Movement for Justice, he founded.
But last month’s election has dramatically changed that, crossing new boundaries for the country and putting the former sports star on the brink of power.
Khan’s party, which won 116 of the 272 elected seats in the National Assembly, is believed to have enough wouldbe coalition partners among smaller parties and independents to win a majority vote to form a government. Although the two main rival parties vowed last week to vote together with several smaller parties against Khan’s upcoming election as prime minister in Parliament, they are considered unlikely to derail Khan’s ascension to the top post.
George Weah, one of
Africa’s greatest footballers who took over as president of Liberia earlier this year, is the only other internationally recognised sports personality to head his country’s government.
As prime minister, the 65yearold Khan will be tested on several fronts, from dealing with an urgent foreign currency shortage to managing a tense relationship with the United States.
‘‘I don’t discount the role that experience in sports leadership can translate into other domains,’’ Sameer Lalwani, the codirector of the South Asia programme at the Stimson Centre thinktank, said.
‘‘[But] he has never had to govern . . . I worry that what we’ve seen about his public profile and the way he portrays himself, that he is much more likely to surround himself with sycophants.’’
Khan will also have to battle allegations he has been helped by Pakistan’s powerful military both during the campaign and in the vote count — rival parties have said soldiers at voting centres threw out their observers when counting began.
Khan has denied the accusations.
An Oxford graduate, he campaigned hard on populist promises of a prosperous Pakistan that breaks away from its persistent legacy of corruption.
Before the advent of PTI, Pakistani politics has been dominated by two parties — former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz and the Pakistan People’s Party of assassinated former leader Benazir Bhutto — when the military has not been in power.
Khan began his cricket career in 1971 as a fast bowler known for his pace and aggressive tactics. By the time he retired more than 20 years later, he was regarded as one of the world’s best ever allrounders.
A glamorous fixture of London’s high society in his younger days, he was captain of Pakistan’s team of talented but wayward stars and — with a reputation as a stern taskmaster — led them to win cricket’s World Cup for the first time in 1992.
He is still known as ‘‘Kaptaan’’ (captain) in Pakistan.
After his retirement, Khan raised funds to open a cancer hospital in the memory of his mother in his native Lahore in 1994.
He has mostly shed the playboy image and made public shows of devotion to Islam, building a large political following in northern Pakistan, especially with the conservative Pashtun population.
Earlier this year, he married his spiritual adviser. Khan’s previous two marriages, particularly to his first wife, British heiress Jemima Khan, had captivated international tabloids.
Khan started the PTI in 1996, but until 2013 it briefly held only one seat in parliament.
‘‘It’s been a 22year struggle for justice for the people of Pakistan,’’ Khan told Reuters in an interview earlier this month.
His party became the country’s thirdlargest in the National Assembly in the previous election, benefiting in part from a groundswell of support, especially from young, urban voters fed up with the country’s corruption.
Relations with Washington
Khan has been critical of the US’ policy in the region and vocally opposed drone strikes on Pakistani territory.
He will have to manage a tense relationship with Washington, which has accused Islamabad of not doing enough to root out Taliban militants.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump tweeted that the US had ‘‘foolishly’’ given Pakistan more than $US33 billion ($NZ49 billion) in aid.
Khan opposes the US’ openended presence in Afghanistan. In his victory speech 10 days ago, he said he wanted ‘‘mutually beneficial’’ relations with Washington, and peace in Afghanistan.
‘‘I do think he will be publicly more adversarial. [But] he is certainly capable of being more pragmatic — that just hasn’t served his purposes in campaigning and branding himself,’’ a former senior US official, who has met Khan several times, said.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Khan’s stance on the US would likely be moderated by Pakistan’s powerful military, which is seeking a more stable relationship with America.
Elements of the army’s intelligence wing have been accused of meddling in politics and muzzling the media to help usher the PTI into power.
Khan has denied colluding with the military, which has ruled the country for almost half its history, saying those who make such accusations are trying to preserve a corrupt system.
Economic challenge
Khan will also have to urgently resolve a currency crisis that threatens Pakistan’s fastgrowing economy, which expan ded by 5.8% in the past year but will most likely need its second bailout from the International Monetary Fund since 2013.
He has said his future government will launch an anticorruption campaign and poverty reduction programme modelled on China, Pakistan’s traditional ally that has financed billions of dollars of infrastructure projects.
At the same time, he has promised to build an ‘‘Islamic welfare state’’, create 10 million jobs and build 5 million homes for the poor.
Asked how he would fund such social spending, he vowed to double Pakistan’s woefully low tax collection rates — the country has one of the world’s lowest taxtoGDP ratios — by cracking down on wealthy tax dodgers.