Imran Khan takes oath as Pakistan's 22nd prime minister, promises to make corrupt politicians accountable

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 in Islamabad. The oath-taking ceremony was administered by Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain.

The ceremony was attended by former cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who arrived in Pakistan on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_4990501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Imran Khan takes oath as Pakistan Prime Minister. Twitter@PTIOfficial[/caption] 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 25 July General Elections, the PTI had emerged as the single largest party with 116 seats. The number increased to 158 in the National Assembly after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued notifications of the successful candidates on the reserved seats for women and the minority community on 11 August. 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.