Jemima Goldsmith has said her former husband Imran Khan has won the general election in Pakistan and will now be the country’s prime minister.
She praised the ex-cricketer’s ‘tenacity, belief and refusal to accept defeat’, explaining: ’22 years later, after humiliations, hurdles and sacrifices, my sons’ father is Pakistan’s next PM’.
But she warned: ‘The challenge now is to remember why he entered politics in the 1st place. Congratulations.’
Khan was married to the British journalist – who is Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith’s sister – from 1995 to 2004. They have two sons.
Supporters of Pakistan’s cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan, head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party, celebrate during general election in Lahore last night
Results were still being tallied Thursday, hours after Khan’s supporters took to the streets to celebrate victory in an election opponents have said the powerful military rigged in his favour
The Election Commission of Pakistan dismissed allegations of manipulation, blaming the delay on glitches in new, untested counting software.
It comes as Pakistan has been gripped by electoral chaos after the outgoing ruling party denounced ‘blatant rigging’ in a pivotal general election while rejecting partial results suggesting victory for Khan.
The English-language Dawn newspaper declared Khan had delivered a ‘knockout punch’.
Pakistani media said roughly half the votes had been counted more than 17 hours after polls closed, an unprecedented delay that has fuelled widespread fears over the legitimacy of the exercise.
But newspapers and television channels were predicting victory for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, with the partial results giving him at least 100 seats so far in the National Assembly, the lower house. –Daily Mail Online
