The Pakistan Muslim League Urdu: پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ق); Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf), Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League" is a political party in Pakistan. As of the 2024 parliamentary election, it has a representation of five seats. It previously served as an ally of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf's government, and led a joint election campaign in 2013 alongside Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Punjab and Balochistan provinces against its rival Pakistan Muslim League (N), a fiscally conservative and centre-right force.
The president of Pakistan is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The presidency is a ceremonial position in Pakistan. The president is bound to act on advice of the prime minister and cabinet. Asif Ali Zardari is the current president since 10 March 2024.
The chief justice of Pakistan is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and is the highest-ranking officer of the Pakistani judiciary.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is a political party in Pakistan established in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer and politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI ranks among the three major Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML–N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and it is the largest party in terms of representation in the National Assembly of Pakistan since the 2018 general election. With a claimed membership of over 10 million in Pakistan, it claims to be one of the country's largest political parties by primary membership.
Chaudhry Parvez Elahi Warraich is a Pakistani politician who was the Chief Minister of Punjab from late 2002 to late 2007 and again from late 2022 to early 2023. He was a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from August 2018 till January 2023, when he, as chief minister, dissolved the assembly. In 2023, he left the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) along with his son, Moonis Elahi, and 10 other former PML(Q) MPAs over political rifts with the party president and cousin, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. He was appointed as, and is currently serving as the president of the PTI. He also served as the president of the Punjab Division of the PML(Q).
The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Punjab, which is located in Lahore, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakistan, having a total of 371 seats, with 297 general seats, 66 seats reserved for women and 8 reserved for non-Muslims.
Ashtar Ausaf Ali is a Pakistani lawyer who twice served as the Attorney General for Pakistan from 2016 to 2018, and from 2022 to 2023. In his first term, he co-drafted the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, which merged the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan is a Pakistani politician who had been the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from 2008 to May 2018. He had been a Member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, from 1993 to 1999, again from 2008 to May 2018 and again from August 2018 till January 2023. He has served as acting Governor of Punjab numerous times between 2008 and 2015.
Muhammad Hamza Shahbaz Sharif is a Pakistani politician, businessman, and the eldest son of current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from September 2018 to April 2022, and resumed this role on 20 October 2022 and continued until the dissolution of the assembly. He briefly held the position of Chief Minister of Punjab from 30 April 2022 to 26 July 2022. His tenure as a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab spanned from August 2018 to January 2023. Prior to this, he was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from June 2008 to May 2018.
Qazi Faez Isa is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) from 17 September 2023 to 25 October 2024. He was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court in 2014, having previously served as the chief justice of Balochistan High Court from 2009 to 2014.
The deputy prime minister of Pakistan, officially the deputy prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is the second most senior minister of the Government of Pakistan. The main purpose of the post was to give a backup to the government in the absence of the Prime Minister. As a result of an agreement between the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the PML-Q to share ministries in the federal cabinet, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was made the first deputy prime minister of Pakistan. From 2013-2024 the office remained vacant until Shehbaz Sharif appointed Ishaq Dar to Deputy Prime Minister as an additional charge to Dar's portfolio of Foreign Minister.
Triennial Senate elections were in Pakistan held on 3 March 2018 to replace 52 retiring senators - half of the Senate's strength - with the winning candidates serving six-year terms. Overall, Pakistan Muslim League (N) came out as the largest party, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The results of these elections were steeped in controversy due to rampant allegations of horse trading and vote-buying, which lead to the Prime Minister and opposition leader Imran Khan calling for reforms. Prior to this election, PML (N) candidates were declared as independents by the Election Commission of Pakistan owing to a Supreme Court judgment.
Sami Ullah Baloch v. Abdul Karim Nousherwani is an overturned decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in which the Court unanimously held that electoral disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution of Pakistan was for life. The ruling barred former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif from holding public office indefinitely, following his disqualification in the Panama Papers case in 2017. It is also noted as the last case conducted by human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir before her death.
Umar Ata Bandial is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 28th Chief Justice of Pakistan from February 2022 to September 2023. He was appointed as the Chief Justice after the approval by President Arif Alvi on 13 January 2022, after which he assumed his office on 2 February 2022 and retired on 16 September 2023.
A political and constitutional crisis emerged in Pakistan from, 3 April 2022 to 10 April 2022 when, National Assembly's deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri dismissed a no-confidence motion against prime minister Imran Khan during a session in which it was expected to be taken up for a vote, alleging that a foreign country's involvement in the regime change was contradictory to Article 5 of the constitution of Pakistan. Moments later, Khan stated in a televised address that he had advised president Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly. Alvi complied with Khan's advice under Article 58 of the constitution. This resulted in the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) taking a suo motu notice of the ongoing situation, creating a constitutional crisis, as effectively, Imran Khan led a constitutional coup. Four days later, the SCP ruled that the dismissal of the no-confidence motion, the prorogation of the National Assembly, the advice from Imran Khan to president Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly, and the subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly were unconstitutional, and overturned these actions in a 5-0 vote. The Supreme Court further held that the National Assembly had not been prorogued and had to be reconvened by the speaker immediately and no later than 10:30 a.m. on 9 April 2022.
By-elections were held in Punjab, Pakistan on 17 July 2022 to elect 20 members of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won a landslide victory on 15 of those 20 seats, leading to the collapse of Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz's PML(N)-led coalition government, as it became 7 seats short of a majority.
Provincial elections were held in the Pakistani province of Punjab on 8 February 2024 to elect a new provincial legislature. On 5 August 2023, the results of the 2023 digital census were approved by the Council of Common Interests headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Therefore, elections have been delayed for several months, as new delimitations will be published on 14 December 2023, as announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). On 2 November 2023, the ECP announced, in agreement with the President of Pakistan, Arif Alvi, that the elections will be held on 8 February 2024. The election was held concurrently with nationwide general elections and other provincial elections.
Irfan Qadir is a Pakistani lawyer and jurist who is incumbent Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Law since 30 April 2024. Previously he served as the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior from September 2022 to August 2023. He also served as the 29th Attorney-General for Pakistan from April 2012 to June 2013, and was a Justice of the Lahore High Court in 2009.
Mansoor Usman Awan is a Pakistani lawyer who is currently serving as the 37th Attorney General for Pakistan, in office since 23 December 2022. In a number of cases, such as the implementation of Article 95 and the presidential reference on the interpretation of Article 63(A) of the Constitution of Pakistan, he served as the Supreme Court Bar Association's (SCBA) legal representative.
Shehzad Ata Elahi is a Pakistani lawyer who was the Attorney General of Pakistan from February 2023 to March 2023. He has expertise in various areas of law.
