Symbol copyright AFP
Imran Khan is a former international cricket star who promises a “new Pakistan” and an finish to corruption if he wins the overall election.
The charismatic aristocrat who captained Pakistan to an international Cup victory in 1992 has lengthy shed his famous person playboy image and now styles himself as a pious, populist, anti-poverty reformer.
Mr Khan, 65, struggled for years to turn popular make stronger into electoral gains. He launched his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1996 however he used to be the one candidate in the birthday celebration to win a seat in 2002. The PTI boycotted the 2008 vote.
Although he has long been one in every of Pakistan’s very best-identified faces the world over, he spent years on the political sidelines. That led to teasing – for a few Imran Khan become “Imran Khan’t”.
It took till the ultimate general election in 2013 for his celebration to turn out to be a significant player, whilst it narrowly missed changing into the second largest nationally.
If his long look ahead to the top process is finally to finish, he wishes an an electoral swing of epic proportions.
The PTI currently holds just below one-10th of the 342 seats in the National Assembly and will wish to make massive profits within the an important province of Punjab, which has greater than half the 272 immediately-elected seats.
it is also the facility base of the ousted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
‘Playboy image’
Oxford-trained Mr Khan had an illustrious profession in global cricket spanning twenty years from the nineteen seventies.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Imran Khan was once at the helm for one in every of his u . s .’s nice triumphs
He additionally advanced a name as one thing of a playboy at the London nightclub circuit, even though he denies that he ever drank alcohol or engaged in any activities that may be regarded as irrelevant for a conservative Pakistani Muslim.
Many say his subsequent forays into the fields of philanthropy and politics have been fuelled by way of a want to positioned to make use of the leadership qualities and goodwill he received as a cricketer.
His pin-up seems to be and private life have ensured he is been a favourite of the world’s media for decades.
In 1995, at the age of 43, he married the 21-year-vintage British socialite, Jemima Goldsmith – the daughter of certainly one of the world’s richest men at the time, Sir James Goldsmith.
The marriage produced boys but was once dissolved in 2004. The split used to be amicable, and Mr Khan seems to have maintained a pleasant courting together with his ex-spouse.
Image copyright PA Image caption Imran Khan and Jemima Goldsmith’s union used to be dissolved in 2004
A second marriage in 2015, to journalist Reham Khan, lasted not up to a year. the former BBC climate presenter alleges she was once bullied via his supporters and has written a tell-all memoir.
It has been making waves in Pakistan, where its newsletter was placed on hold by way of the courts in the run-as much as the election.
Mr Khan wed again in 2018 in a low-profile rite in Lahore.
His 3rd spouse Bushra Watto, a mom of 5, was once defined as his religious adviser, and observers say the match plays neatly together with his public shows of devotion to Islam.
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As a political candidate, Imran Khan’s views have continuously shifted or been imprecise. Many accuse him of U-turns. What he would truly do in energy is basically uncertain.
Symbol copyright AFP Image caption Imran Khan supporters assume their time has come
He upholds liberalism but at the similar time appeals to Islamic values and anti-West sentiment, especially when it comes to perceived interference in Pakistan’s inner affairs. He campaigned vocally in opposition to US drone moves in opposition to militants in Pakistan’s tribal spaces as part of the “warfare on terror”.
He has criticised a few of the Taliban’s violence however last 12 months his celebration’s executive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province gave $3m (£2.3m) to the notorious Haqqania madrassa. Its head, Maulana Sami-ul Haq, is known as the “father of the Taliban”. Imran Khan has had to struggle off name callings he have to be referred to as “Taliban Khan”.
However it’s his campaign towards corruption and dynastic politics in Pakistan, and a promise to boost a complete new magnificence of “blank” politicians, that turns out to have chimed with his supporters.
He has sought to ride a wave of disillusionment at Pakistan’s antique political order, particularly a number of the city middle magnificence and young voters, who are tired of dwelling in a rustic with an financial system and foreign money at the slide, and water and tool supply in constant trouble.
the primary aim of his anti-corruption campaign has been his arch-rival Nawaz Sharif.
The Panama Papers leak in 2015 revealed a couple of of Mr Sharif’s kids had hyperlinks to offshore companies, which have been allegedly used to channel budget and buy foreign assets.
That moment provided Imran Khan along with his big likelihood – and he seized it.
His campaign towards the Sharifs saw him threaten to blockade the capital along with his supporters. Nawaz Sharif was ousted from the place of business of high minister in 2017 and is now behind bars, sentenced to 10 years in jail by way of an anti-corruption courtroom. The Sharifs maintain the costs are politically inspired.
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together with his main rival down however now not out, Imran Khan redoubled his efforts to woo politicians with dependable vote banks to his camp. Critics say lots of the so-called “electables” were coerced into defecting, charges the army and PTI deny.
Mr Khan rejects continual claims that the robust military has manipulated the poll in improve of his marketing campaign.
He told the BBC in Would Possibly: “The Current military leader, Gen Bajwa, might be probably the most professional-democratic man we have now ever observed.”
How he may get on with the army within the longer term if he makes it to energy remains an open question.
If he actually wants to tackle a few of Pakistan’s root problems, he would possibly to find himself on a collision path with the status quo, as earlier governments have discovered.
