South Asia

Imran Khan was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan on 18 August 2018. Khan became a national hero when he captained the Pakistani cricket team to victory in the 1992 World Cup. He now promises to utilise his leadership skills to build a Naya Pakistan (New Pakistan). Khan entered the political terrain in 1996 when he launched his political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice), or PTI. The political arena, however, proved to be a sticky wicket. Despite his celebrity status, it took Khan 21 years to break the hold of the two established political parties — the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — and to emerge as a major player in the political realm.