After emerging as the single largest side in the national assembly in the July 25 general elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has officially nominated Imran Khan as the party's prime ministerial candidate, according to Pakistan’s Dawn News.
The 65-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was nominated by the party's parliamentary committee during a meeting in Islamabad attended by PTI's top leader.
"The nomination of Imran Khan will be mere formality," senior party leader Arif Alvi said before the meeting took place. "All 120 parliamentary committee members are in consensus over this."
"The final decision on cabinet members will be taken by Imran Khan himself," he added.
The swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place on August 14, the Independence Day of the country. Initially, the ceremony was supposed to take place on August 11.
Pakistan's National Assembly comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected. A party can only form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats in total.
PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry claimed that allies and reserved seats will take the party tally to 174 seats in the National Assembly, Dawn News reported.
Following the formal confirmation of his nomination, Khan said: "Today, I have been given the biggest of responsibilities.”
"After 1970, this is the first time that the masses have defeated the political elite. This happens very rarely that in a two-party system a third one gets a chance."
Khan warned his fellow party leaders that they must not govern the traditional way. "There are challenges aplenty for the PTI government," he said. "The people do not expect us to govern the traditional way; we are viewed as different. If we do traditional politics then we would also fall prey to the public wrath."
Khan vowed to "lead by example", saying: "I will make decision on merit and in the national interest, and will never ask you to do something that I wouldn't myself.
"One hour every week I will give answers to the public — like it happens in England. We will also make the ministers answerable to the public in the truest sense."