Imran Khan sworn in as Pakistan’s prime minister

Former cricket star Imran Khan was sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan on Saturday (August 18), taking on the challenge of forming a coalition to govern as a currency crisis looms over the turbulent, nuclear-armed South Asian country.

Khan, a firebrand nationalist, won a general election last month promising to fight corruption and drastically reduce poverty among Pakistan’s 208 million mostly-Muslim people, Reuters reoirted.

Wearing a traditional black sherwani coat, in the style of his hero and Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Khan recited the oath of office and vowed to respect the constitution.

"I will bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan," Khan read from the oath, standing next to President Mamnoon Hussain. Later, he was given a guard of honor on the lawns of the prime minister’s house.

Military coups have punctuated Pakistan’s 71-year history, and Khan’s election was only the second democratic transfer of power. If he completes his five-year term he will be the first Pakistani prime minister to do so.

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), or Justice Party, holds 151 of the 342 seats in the national assembly, where a vote was held on Friday to decide who would be asked to form a government.

Khan easily defeated rival Shehbaz Sharif from the outgoing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, garnering 176 votes to Sharif’s 96 votes.

Pakistan has been plagued by economic boom-and-bust cycles as well as by terror violence in more recent years.