Pakistan is a multi-party democracy. The country has many political parties and many times in the past the country has been ruled by a coalition government.
The Parliament of Pakistan is bicameral, consisting of the National Assembly of Pakistan and the Senate.
The military-dominated Establishment has directly ruled Pakistan for nearly half of its existence since its creation in 1947, while frequently exerting covert dominance over the political leadership during the remainder.[1][2] The Establishment in Pakistan includes the key decision-makers in the country's military and intelligence services, national security, as well as its foreign and domestic policies, including the state policies of aggressive Islamization during the military dictatorship of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. However, the military establishment later reversed its support of political Islam under General Pervez Musharraf, who pursued enlightened moderation in the 2000s.
Till 1990, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was the only major party of Pakistan. After Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto died, Benazir Bhutto took control and they remained a strong position throughout Pakistan. In 1990, Nawaz Sharif of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) won the elections. Two major parties were in Pakistan. After IJI dissolved and Nawaz Sharif founded Pakistan Muslim League (N), PPP and PML(N) were the major two parties of Pakistan. In 1993, Peoples Party won the election again. In 1996, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was formed. In 2013, PTI took part in the elections and won 35 seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan. After the 2018 Pakistan elections, PTI became the government and became one of the three major parties of Pakistan.
In 2020, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was formed of many parties as a movement against then prime minister Imran Khan. Following Imran Khan’s removal, political unrest broke out throughout the country, and in the events leading up to the Pakistani 2024 election, many new parties were formed. The country’ largest party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, would be subject to legal issues, and an alleged crackdown and therefore was forced to register with their alliance member, the Sunni Ittehad Council, which is a minor religious party.
Punjab is generally considered as the most important political province and has been used by major parties such as the PML(N) and PTI in the past to gain legitimacy and as a political stronghold. The Punjab provincial assembly has usually been split between the Pakistan Muslim League N (PML-N) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Sindh has been used as a political stronghold for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) since the party’s creation. The PPP has almost always won landslide victories in provincial elections in Sindh, and has almost always held the province’s seats. Throughout the early 2000s the PML-Q saw minor successes in Sindh, but the province quickly came under the control of the PPP again. The PPP has been accused of bad governance by several Sindhi parties, leading to the creation of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), a coalition of several anti-PPP parties, although the PPP still holds sweeping majorities in Sindhi provincial seats.[3]
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is full of Pashtun nationalist and regionalist parties favoring Afghan tribalism, such as the ANP and PMAP. The region has also been full of religious parties, like the JUI-F especially throughout the north western areas near Afghanistan. There are several political parties in KPK, and most of them favor Pashtun nationalism with feudal aspects, but ever since Imran Khan’s entrance into politics, the PTI has almost always won landslide election victories in the province and has KPK as a political stronghold and base of power.
The province of Balochistan, Pakistan is full of Baloch nationalist parties, with some demanding autonomy for Balochistan, and some extreme groups demanding secession from Pakistan. Most parties from Balochistan follow the same pattern as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, high levels of regionalism and ethnic nationalism, with most ethnic nationalists being left-wing, as well as right-wing religious groups usually gaining victories near the Afghan border. Balochistan is the only province in which no party regularly gains a clear majority, and the provincial assembly is usually split between Baloch nationalist parties.[4]
The Pakistan Peoples Party won the first Gilgit-Baltistan elections and was the only major party of Gilgit-Baltistan with 20 seats out of 33. However, in 2015, Pakistan Muslim League (N) won 15 seats and became the major party of Gilgit-Baltistan and PPP only received one seat in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly. However, in the 2020 elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 16 seats and became the only major party of Gilgit-Baltistan with PPP winning 3 and PML(N) winning two seats.
The Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz is a Pakistani conservative political party that was founded in 1993 by senior politician, Nawaz Sharif.[8] The party was founded as an offshoot of the Pakistan Muslim League, but is now its largest faction. It is currently still led by its founder Nawaz Sharif and is ideologically conservative as well as shares similarities with Nawaz's previous party, the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad.[8] It saw rapid growth under Nawaz Sharif in the 1990s as it entered a two-party system with the Pakistan People's Party.[9] It is also advocates for economic privatization, as Nawaz himself was a business owner. The party follows a free market capitalist and economically liberalist approach.[10] It has developed a somewhat ideology around its leader Nawaz Sharif and has been led by members of the Sharif family. It has been right-wing for most of its existence but has shifted to a center-right position in recent years. It holds is base of power in Punjab, more specifically Lahore and has had 3 different prime ministers including Nawaz himself who served for the longest non-consecutive time (9 years). The prime ministers from the PML-N include Nawaz Sharif (3 terms), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (1 term) and Nawaz's younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif (2 terms), who is serving right now.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is a political party founded in 1996 by cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan. The party was founded on the premise of bringing change to Pakistan and to bring a new face to Pakistani politics, as when the party was founded the PPP and PML-N ruled Pakistan in a de-facto two party system.[9] It advocates for welfarism and has promoted turning Pakistan into a modern welfare state.[11] It has often seen populism around Imran Khan, a former cricket star. It launched a large-scale anti-corruption campaign across Pakistan in the 2000s and 2010s which led to its victory in the 2018 Pakistani general election.[12] It holds its base of power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but also holds significant popularity and influence across western Punjab, where Imran Khan is from. It has been widely seen as an anti-establishment party since 2022 as it clashed with Pakistan's military establishment. It was founded as a centrist party, though in 2024, some sources indicated that the party had shifted center-right due to its pro-islamic unity teachings.[13] Besides this it has advocated for rule of law and constitutionalism as part of its political alliance, the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayin. Despite being the largest political party in Pakistan in terms of membership, and in the top 10 largest parties worldwide, it has only had one prime minister, being Imran Khan himself who served for one term.
The Pakistan People's Party is a political party founded in 1967 by statesman, barrister and senior politician, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It is by far the oldest out of the top ruling parties in Pakistan and was the first Pakistani political party to lay out a manifesto and ideology.[14] It was founded on the premise of socialism and to struggle against the military rule of Field Marshal Ayub Khan (1958-1969). It has also been characterized as Pakistan's first democratic party[15] and has been left-wing for most of its existence with its founder, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto being a left-wing populist, though in the 21st century it has shifted to a center-left position. Zulfikar ruled Pakistan from 1971 until 1977, when he was overthrown and later hanged in 1979. The party has been widely seen as a dynastic political family party as it has seen its leadership pass down through the Bhutto family, which has seen a devoted cult of personality. After Zulfikar's death the party abandoned its socialist ideology and instead shifted to progressivism under Zulfikar's daughter, Benazir Bhutto. Benazir would be assassinated in 2007 and since then the party has been controlled by her husband, Asif Ali Zardari as well as her son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The party has been rivals with the PML-N for most of its existence but has joined hands with the PML-N against the PTI. Its main base of power is Sindh. The PPP is led by the Central Executive Committee and has seen 4 different prime ministers including: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1973-1977), Benazir Bhutto (1988-1990, 1993-1996), Yusuf Raza Gillani (2008-2012) and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf (2012-2013).
This is the list of parties that are currently represented in any of the 5 Provincial Assemblies of Pakistan, which includes, the Provincial assembly in Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, KPK and Gilgit-Baltistan
This is the list of registered parties that are currently unrepresented in Parliament and any of the provincial assemblies of Pakistan since 2024.[6]
The civil-military establishment ruled Supreme for 60 years - from 1947 to 2007 - by crushing or betraying social movements and preventing the development of society.
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