Pakistani former cricket star has achieved Parliament vote to become the 22nd Prime Minister.
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Asad Qaiser, the speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan (the Lower House of Parliament), said Khan "got 176 votes," while his rival candidate, Shehbaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), garnered only 96 votes.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the country’s disputed election held in July but fell short of an outright majority. The PTI is expected to form a coalition government with smaller parties.
The opposition claims that the July 25 election was rigged by the powerful military, which ruled the country for about half the time since the country’s formation in 1947. The military has denied the allegation.
Opposition lawmakers surrounded Khan and chanted, "thief, thief Imran Khan."
On July 29, Pakistan’s main opposition party called for a judicial investigation into vote rigging.
Murtaza Abbasi, a lawmaker from the PML-N, which is led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said in the parliament that Khan was "brought here by aliens," a euphemism for the military.
Other opposition lawmakers in the parliament on Friday chanted, "puppet prime minister."
Khan, 65, will be sworn in on Saturday, but he has yet to announce his cabinet.
The cricket legend has called for "mutually beneficial" relationships with the United States. He has also urged the resolution of the long-simmering dispute between Pakistan and India over Kashmir.
