Jemima khan and Imran Khan
Imran Khan's ex-British wife Jemima Khan on Thursday congratulated him by declaring the cricketer-turned-politician as Pakistan's next Prime Minister even before the announcement of the official results.
The 65-year-old former cricketer's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is inching closer to win the country's general elections held on Wednesday, amid charges of rigging by rival political parties.
he part was ahead in 120 of 272 contested National Assembly constituencies, while its main rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was way behind with 65 seats.
Jemima, 44, who earlier prayed for his success praised Khan in a series of tweets, saying father of her two sons will be the next Prime Minister of Pakistan.
"I remember IK’s 1st election in 1997- untested, idealistic & politically naive. I waited up for the call in LHR (Lahore) with 3 months old Sulaiman, who I had lugged around the country. Eventually he called. "It's a clean sweep" & after my gasp, "… the other way." He roared with laughter…"
"22 years later, after humiliations, hurdles and sacrifices, my sons' father is Pakistan's next PM. It's an incredible lesson in tenacity, belief & refusal to accept defeat. The challenge now is to remember why he entered politics in the 1st place. Congratulations."
Jemima who has strong link with Pakistan from her marriage days to her two sons – Suliaman Isa Khan and Qasi Khan– took keen interest in elections.
"Happy Election Day Pakistan, you maddening, beautiful, crazy, beloved old friend. Here's hoping the people who count your votes, let your vote count. And you get the leader you believe in. Pakistan Zindabad!" she said in an earlier tweet on Wednesday.
Khan married young Jemima in 1995 but both separated in 2005 and Jemima went back from Lahore to live in London.
However, both have maintained friendly links due to bondage of their sons who live in London. Last year, she came to Khan's help when he faced legal battle related to Bani Gala estate in suburbs of Islamabad.
She provided copies of old transaction to provide details of money trial to purchase the property when they were married.
Currently, Khan is married to Bushra Maneka, a leading scholar and spiritual guide in the mystic Sufi branch of Islam in February after two failed marriages.
After divorce from British heiress Jemima, he got married to former BBC presenter Reham Khan – who was also British. But their relationship fell apart after 10 months in 2015 with Reham later accusing Imran of being bisexual, taking hard drugs and adultery in her recent book.
