Who is Imran Khan?

Imran Khan was elected as Pakistan’s prime minister in 2018 when he ran as a nationalist promising to struggle corruption, revive the nation’s struggling economic system and keep an impartial international coverage that distanced Pakistan from the USA.

Born to an prosperous household in Lahore and educated at Oxford College, Mr. Khan, 69, first rose to worldwide prominence within the late Nineteen Seventies on the cricket pitch and have become an everyday in London’s modern crowd. In 1995, he married a British heiress, Jemima Goldsmith.

A yr later, Mr. Khan tried to parlay his recognition from cricket — he had led Pakistan in 1992 to its solely World Cup triumph — right into a political profession, establishing his personal social gathering, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or the Motion for Justice. As a politician, he painted an image of himself as a reformer providing an alternative choice to Pakistan’s entrenched political dynasties.

For over a decade, Mr. Khan struggled to make political inroads and was mocked for his political ambitions. However by 2011, he started to assemble political momentum, drawing tons of of hundreds of Pakistanis to his rallies. Many had been energized by his populist, anticorruption and anti-American message.

By then, the previous worldwide playboy had embraced a pious type of Islam and sought to rework his private picture. In 2018, Mr. Khan obtained married for a 3rd time, to his non secular adviser, Bushra Bibi. (His marriage to Ms. Goldsmith had resulted in divorce, and he was briefly married in 2015 to a broadcast journalist, Reham Khan.)

After profitable the backing of navy leaders, Mr. Khan turned prime minister in 2018. A lot of his rivals accused the navy of manipulating the election in his favor — an accusation Mr. Khan and the navy have each denied. He ushered in a brand new international coverage, shifting away from the USA and nearer to Russia and China.

Mr. Khan’s comparatively steady tenure started to unwind late final yr, as dissatisfaction along with his dealing with of the economic system got here to a head and a dispute with the navy over its management appeared to value him its assist.