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A supporter
of Imran Khan carries his portrait during a rally in
Islamabad on May 11, 2013
(AFP, Aamir Qureshi)
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ISLAMABAD —
Imran Khan, Pakistan's cricket hero, made an incredible breakthrough at the
polls with his enormous popularity inspiring one of the highest voter turnouts
in history.
Loved by
millions across the cricket-obsessed nation for winning Pakistan its only World
Cup in 1992, the 60-year-old has sporting prowess, rugged good looks and
international celebrity in a country lacking glamour.
He may not
have achieved his dream, in which a "tsunami" of support would win
him the premiership, but his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) looks set to form a
government in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He
electrified the campaign, addressing enormous crowds and galvanising young
voters and an urban middle class fed up with the same old politicians who have
ruled for decades on the back of family wealth.
When he
plunged off a lift cranking him up to the stage at a rally and fractured his
spine in the final days of campaigning, his bedside television addresses were
feted as some of the finest Pakistani political oratory in years.
To his
detractors, he is a dangerous appeaser of the Taliban, a Muslim conservative
weak on women's rights and a naive figure who doesn't understand that America's
war against Islamic extremists is also Pakistan's war.
For a party
only founded in 1996 and which only ever won one seat, in 2002, the election
result is an incredible achievement that will test its governing ability on the
frontline of Pakistan's war against the Taliban.
"God
will not take me from this world until a new Pakistan is built," he told
supporters by video-link from his hospital bed on the last day of campaigning.
Tugging at
their heart strings, he spoke about his Muslim faith, the personal sacrifices
he has made and his mantra for reform.
"God
has given you this golden opportunity. Don't let it go. You should give change
a chance," he said from the hospital he founded for the poor.
Khan's
campaign slogan was Naya Pakistan -- New Pakistan.
The message
was simple -- the parties that have governed for the past two decades have
failed and it is time to try something else, time to pay tax, end corruption,
fix the power crisis and stand up to America.
His vocal
opposition to US drone strikes targeting the Taliban and Al-Qaeda also struck a
chord with a deeply anti-American populace.
His face is
plastered all over billboards, TV adverts and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf
(PTI) party ran a strong Internet campaign with a stylish website, securing
@ImranKhanPTI more than half a million followers on Twitter.
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Supporters
of Pakistani politician and former cricketer Imran Khan
take part in a rally in
Islamabad on May 11, 2013 (AFP, Aamir Qureshi)
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Born on
November 25, 1952 in Lahore into a comfortable family with origins in the
Pashtun northwest, Khan was educated at Aitchison College, the Eton of
Pakistan, boarding school in England, and then Oxford University.
He became
one of the world's greatest ever all-rounders -- a fearsome fast bowler and
dangerous batsman -- whose finest hour came at the 1992 World Cup, where at the
age of 39 he led an inexperienced team to the title.
Off the
pitch, he had a string of socialite girlfriends and frequented exclusive
nightclubs in London until he married Jemima Goldsmith, the daughter of the
French-British tycoon James, in 1995.
She
converted to Islam and the couple moved in with his family in Lahore.
They had
two sons but divorced in 2004, allegedly over the difficulties Jemima faced in
Pakistan, where she was hounded for her family's Jewish ancestry and his
obsession with politics.
He is also
feted for his philanthropy. He founded the best cancer hospital in the country,
which provides free care to the poor, and set up a college that awards British
university degrees in Mianwali, his family's home town.
His rival
Nawaz Sharif cautioned Khan on the campaign trail that politics is more than a
game. Khan will now be batting for his life, most likely in opposition at the
national level but grappling with power in the northwest.
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Former
prime minister and leader of the PML-N party Nawaz
Sharif addresses his
supporters at a party office in Lahore.
Photograph: KM Chaudary/AP
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