Islamabad, Aug 18: In an embarrassment for Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has donned a conservative approach after entering into the political realm, fumbled in his oath-taking speech while swearing allegiance to the finality of prophethood in Urdu.
While repeating the oath behind President Mamnoon Hussain, Khan fumbled twice when asked to repeat that he believes in Prophet Muhammad and the khatim-un-nabiyeen (finality of prophethood).
Khan misspelled khatim-un-nabiyeen despite being corrected by the President. Seconds later, he made another gaffe while misspelling roze qayamat (day of judgement).
Watch video of Imran Khan fumbling in the oath-taking speech:
The swearing-in ceremony, from India, was attended by Khan's longtime friend and Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu. He was seated besides the President of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. Sidhu was also seen briefly interacting with Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
A day before the oath-taking ceremony, Khan won the vote of confidence in the Pakistan National Assembly. 176 lawmakers in the 341-member house supported him, as opposed to 96 lawmakers who backed Shehbaz Sharif, the chief of PML-N.
Khan's elevation to the prime ministerial post comes as a departure to the decades-long two-dynasty domination of Pakistan politics. In the 70-year-old democratic history of the Islamic nation -- much of which has been usurped by the Army -- the heads of states have either emerged from the Bhutto or Sharif family.
Khan, 65, is considered to be an outsider in Pakistan politics. He, however, has been active in public life for decades. Not only was he a successful cricketer, but had captained the national side in 1992 when Pakistan bagged it's only World Cup in the 50-50 format till date.
In the general elections held last month, Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf emerged as the single-largest party, bagging 117 of the 271 directly elected seats. The majority mark was reached with support from seven smaller parties and nine independent lawmakers.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 18, 2018 01:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).