Will IMRAN KHAN be the next PM of PAKISTAN?

On the same day Khan requested a partial recount of few constituencies by the election commission. 133 Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf conceded defeat in the polls on 12 May, Asad Umar, Khan's campaign manager, congratulated Nawaz Sharif's party on the election success while promising to make a strong opposition. Khan's party surprisingly swooped the militancy-hit northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where with the backing of the Jamaat-e-Islami and Qaumi Watan Party PTI will form the provincial government.

On 12 May3 2013, Parvez Khattak was nominated by Khan to the top post of Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 135 On 12 May3 2013 the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly took oath, including 10 women and a minority politician were nominated on reserved seats by Khan. After joining of independent politicians and the reserved seats the number of Khan's party went up to 55 out of 124.

136 Khan also finalized the nomination of Asad Qaiser as the speaker of the assembly. Khan on the same day appointed a 6 member Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Development Advisory Committee, chaired by himself to advise the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on planning, development and other key issues the committee includes Asad Umar, Jehangir Khan Tareen, Ali Asghar Khan, Khalid Mehsud and former Interior Secretary and Ambassador Rustam Shah Mohmmad. Imran Khan led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf became the opposition party nationally, in Punjab and in Sindh.

His nominee for premiership Javed Hashmi and Mehmood-ur-Rasheed for chief ministership of Punjab both lost, while his Pervez Khattak won the vote in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Khan became the parliamentary leader of his party while promising active opposition nationally. 138 On 12 May3 Khan was contacted by American business magnate Bill Gates who asked for Khan’s cooperation to eradicate polio in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where Khan's party formed the government.

Gates wrote a personal letter asking for Khan's corporation in the matter, Khan is also scheduled to speak to him on the phone to discuss further strategy regarding the anti polio campaign. Khan's proclaimed political platform and declarations include: Islamic values, to which he rededicated himself in the 1990s; liberal economics, with the promise of deregulating the economy and creating a welfare state; decreased bureaucracy and the implementation of anti-corruption laws, to create and ensure a clean government; the establishment of an independent judiciary; overhaul of the country's police system; and an anti-militant vision for a democratic Pakistan. Khan told Britain's Daily Telegraph, "I want Pakistan to be a welfare state and a genuine democracy with a rule of law and an independent judiciary."29 Other ideas he has presented include a requirement of all students to spend a year after graduation teaching in the countryside and cutting down the overstaffed bureaucracy in order to send them to teach too.

141 "We need decentralisation, empowering people at the grass roots," he has said. Mohammad Iqbal's work has influenced Imran Khan in his deliberations on an "Islamic social state". Khan's call for religion and national pride to play a greater role appeal primarily to a gradually growing young and educated urban middle class.

As the political elite have shown neither the desire or ability to act against the energy crisis, inflation, and social tensions, the population is looking for alternatives. 143 Providing a credible new leadership for restoration of Pakistan's political and economic sovereignty through building a new bond of trust between the government and the people is another stated goal of party. Establishment of a strong accountability and anti-corruption system is also very important part of PTI's agenda.

Khan delivered his own version of Martin Luther King’s "I have a dream" speech during a large rally In Mingora. I dreamt about playing for Pakistan at the age of nine and I played for the national team at 18. I dreamt of becoming world’s best all-rounder; in nine years' time I became one.

I dreamt of making Pakistan the best cricket team and winning a world cup; it took 10 years and we won in 1992. I dreamt of establishing a great cancer hospital, it took five years and Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital was created. I dreamt of a university like Oxford; I set up Namal University.

Though, it is just the beginning for the institution. When I joined politics, I dreamt of Pakistani people rallying with me for a better Pakistan and on 12 May3 2011 the ‘tsunami’ took over Pakistan. Khan is often mocked as ‘Taliban Khan’ because of his stance against the war in North-West Pakistan.

He believes in negotiations with Taliban and the pull out of the Pakistan Army from FATA. He is against US drone strikes and plans to disengage Pakistan from the US-led war on terror. Khan also opposes almost all military operations, including the Siege of Lal Masjid.

According to Khan widespread military operations lead to indiscriminate killings in the areas that are targeted by security forces and this, in turn, allows the Taliban to recruit more people to their cause. Khan also believes that local people who do not believe in Taliban ideology outnumber the militants and that their support is key to putting an end to the seemingly endless war on terror. Khan has also said that drone strikes are immoral because they kill suspected militants without a fair trial.

In 12 May3, the Pakistani Taliban issued death threats if he went ahead with his march to their tribal stronghold along the Afghan border to protest US drone attacks, because he calls himself a "liberal" – a term they associate with a lack of religious belief. 150 151 On 12 May3 2012, prior to his plan to address a rally in South Waziristan, senior commanders of Pakistani Taliban said after a meeting headed by the Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud that they now offered Khan security assistance for the rally because of Khan's opposition to drone attacks in Pakistan, reversing their previous stance. Medea Benjamin organized a 34-person Code Pink delegation from the U.S. to Pakistan to protest U.S. drone warfare.

They accompanied the march until it was blocked by containers placed by Pakistan authorities, "for their own safety". Their protests were to continue in other parts of Pakistan. On 12 May3 2013 (Pakistan Day) Imran Khan addressed over 200,000 supporters at Iqbal Park and made Six promises to the people of Pakistan if he comes to power also known as Imran Khan’s six pledges.

I will always speak the truth to the people of Pakistan. The PTI government that will come into power, I promise that we will try to end tyranny. I will never take my money out of Pakistan.

I will never take personal benefit from being in government, nor will my relatives be allowed to benefit from my being in power. I will protect your tax money. We will stand together with every Pakistani whether they are inside or outside of Pakistan.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Khan became known as a socialite for his strict behaviour against Western customs, and is often dismissed as a political lightweight66 and a celebrity outsider in Pakistan,30 where national newspapers also refer to him as a "honest politician". 157 Political observers say the crowds he draws are attracted by his cricketing celebrity, and the public has been reported to view him as a figure of entertainment as well as serious political authority. Declan Walsh in The Guardian newspaper in England in 2005 described Khan as an "honest politician," observing that, "Khan's ideas and affiliations since entering politics in 1996 have swerved and skidded like a rickshaw in a rainshower… He preaches democracy one day but gives a vote to reactionary mullahs the next."58 The charge constantly raised against Khan is that of hypocrisy and opportunism, including what has been called his life's "playboy to puritan U-turn."30 Political commentator Najam Sethi, stated that, "A lot of the Imran Khan story is about backtracking on a lot of things he said earlier, which is why this doesn't inspire people.".

30 He is also accused of having links with Pakistan's 'establishment'. In 2008, as part of the Hall of Shame awards for 2007, Pakistan's Newsline magazine gave Khan the "Paris Hilton award for being the most undeserving media darling." The 'citation' for Khan read: "He is the leader of a party that is the proud holder of one National Assembly seat (and) gets media coverage inversely proportional to his political influence."

The Guardian has described the coverage garnered by Khan's post-retirement activities in England, where he made his name as a cricket star and a night-club regular, as "terrible tosh, with danger attached. It turns a great (and greatly miserable) Third World nation into a gossip-column annexe. We may all choke on such frivolity".

159 On 4th March Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, issued a Fatwa against Imran Khan, saying that voting for the him or his party is ‘haram’ alleging him as Ahmadi agent and Zionist lobbyist. Khan is featured in the University of Oxford's Hall of Fame and has been an honorary fellow of Oxford's Keble College. In 1976 as well as 1980, Khan was awarded The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for being the leading all-rounder in English first-class cricket.

On 12 May3 2005, Khan was appointed the fifth Chancellor of the University of Bradford, where he is also a patron of the Born in Bradford research project. On 12 May3 2007, Khan received the Humanitarian Award at the Asian Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur for his efforts in setting up the first cancer hospital in Pakistan. On 12 May3 2008, he was one of several veteran Asian cricketers presented special silver jubilee awards at the inaugural Asian Cricket Council (ACC) award ceremony in Karachi.

In 2009, at International Cricket Council's centennial year celebration, Khan was one of fifty-five cricketers inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. In 2011 he was given the Jinnah Award. On 12 May3 2012, Imran Khan was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in recognition of his services for cancer treatment in Pakistan, through the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre.

In 2012 according to Pew Research Center, seven out of ten Pakistani respondents offered a favourable opinion about Khan. The survey also revealed that Khan enjoys incomparable popularity among youth. He was the Asia Society's Person of the Year 2012.

In 12 May3, GlobalPost ranked him third in a list of the top nine world leaders who influenced the world the most in 2012, behind Christine Lagarde and Barack Obama while more influential than Hillary Clinton, Kim Jong Un and Aung San Suu Kyi. Khan has published six works of non-fiction, including an autobiography co-written with Patrick Murphy. He periodically writes editorials on cricket and Pakistani politics in several leading Pakistani and British newspapers.

It was revealed in 2008 that Khan's second book, Indus Journey: A Personal View of Pakistan, had required heavy editing from the publisher. The publisher Jeremy Lewis revealed in a memoir that when he asked Khan to show his writing for publication, "he handed me a leatherbound notebook or diary containing a few jottings and autobiographical snippets. Khan, Imran & Murphy, Patrick (1983).

Imran: The autobiography of Imran Khan. Khan, Imran (1989). Imran Khan's cricket skills.

London : Golden Press in association with Hamlyn. Khan, Imran (1991). Indus Journey: A Personal View of Pakistan.

Chatto & Windus. Khan, Imran (1992). All Round View.

Khan, Imran (1993). Warrior Race: A Journey Through the Land of the Tribal Pathans. Chatto & Windus.

Khan, Imran (2011). Pakistan: A Personal History. In 2010, a Pakistani production house announced to produce a film based on Khan's life named as Kaptaan: The Making of a Legend (Urdu:?).

The title is Urdu for 'Captain' indicating his captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team which led them to victory in the 1992 cricket world cup. It follows the events that have shaped up his life. From being ridiculed in Cricket to being labeled as a playboy.

From the tragic death of his mother, to his efforts and endeavors in building the first cancer hospital in Pakistan. From being the first Chancellor of the University of Bradford, to the building of Namal University. Tennant, Ivo (1996).