The Bangladesh Awami League, often simply called the Awami League or AL, is one of the major political parties in Bangladesh, being the ruling party since 2009, and has since been described as authoritarian.
The Pakistan People's Party is a centre-left political party in Pakistan. It is currently the second-largest party in the Senate. The party was founded in 1967 in Lahore, when a number of prominent left-wing politicians in the country joined hands against the military rule of president Muhammad Ayub Khan, under the leadership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It is affiliated with the Socialist International. The PPP's platform was formerly socialist, and its stated priorities continue to include transforming Pakistan into a social-democratic state, promoting egalitarian values, establishing social justice, and maintaining a strong military. The party, alongside the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, is one of the three largest political parties of Pakistan.
The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (Urdu: پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن), abbr.PML(N) or PML-N) is a centre-right, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate. The party was founded in 1993, when a number of prominent conservative politicians in the country joined hands after the dissolution of Islamic Democratic Alliance, under the leadership of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The party's platform is generally conservative, which involves supporting free markets, deregulation, lower taxes and private ownership. Although the party historically supported social conservatism, in recent years, the party's political ideology and platform has become more liberal on social and cultural issues; however, members have been accused of using Islamist populist rhetoric. Alongside the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), it is one of the three major political parties of the country.
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 2018 parliamentary election, it has a representation of 5 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.
Imran Khan is a Pakistani politician and former cricketer who served as the 22nd prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He is the founder and former chairman of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from 1996 to 2023. He was the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team throughout the 1980s and early 90s.
Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the second governor-general of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951 and later as the second prime minister of Pakistan from 1951 to 1953. He was one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan and the first Bengali to have governed Pakistan.
The National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate. As of 2023, the National Assembly has a maximum membership of 342, of which 266 are directly elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past-the-post system to represent their respective constituencies, while 70 are elected on reserved seats for women and religious minorities from all over the country and six on reserved seats for former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and the members hold their seats for five years or until the house is dissolved by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. The house convenes at the Parliament House, Red Zone, Islamabad.
Since its establishment in 1947, Pakistan has had an asymmetric federal government and is a federal parliamentary democratic republic. At the national level, the people of Pakistan elect a bicameral legislature, the Parliament of Pakistan. The parliament consists of a lower house called the National Assembly, which is elected directly, and an upper house called the Senate, whose members are chosen by elected provincial legislators. The head of government, the Prime Minister, is elected by the majority members of the National Assembly and the head of state, the President, is elected by the Electoral College, which consists of both houses of Parliament together with the four provincial assemblies. In addition to the national parliament and the provincial assemblies, Pakistan also has more than five thousand elected local governments.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is a political party in Pakistan. Established in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-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 over 10 million members in Pakistan and abroad, it claims to be the country's largest political party by primary membership, as well as one of the largest political parties in the world.
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. The 17th Provincial Assembly of the Punjab was dissolved prematurely on 14 January 2023. The date of next elections in Punjab is being highly contested legally. The Constitution of Pakistan requires that new elections for the Punjab Assembly must be held within 90 days from the date of dissolution under Article 224(3)(a). Therefore, by law, new elections for the Punjab Assembly must have been held by 14 April 2023. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan had unilaterally announced that the province was set to elect a new legislature on 14 May 2023. After that date's passing, it is unclear when provincial elections will be held.
Shehbaz Sharif is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan, in office from April 2022 to August 2023. He is the president of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N). Previously in his political career, he served as the Chief Minister of Punjab three times, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister of Punjab.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Pakistan face legal and social difficulties compared to non-LGBT persons. Pakistani law prescribes criminal penalties for same-sex sexual acts. The Pakistani Penal Code of 1860, originally developed under the British Raj, criminalises sodomy with possible penalties of prison sentences from two years to a life sentence and fines. Despite its illegality, homosexual acts are only occasionally prosecuted by authorities in Pakistan. Other morality and public order provisions in the Penal Code are however used to target LGBT Pakistanis.
Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao, simply known as Hayat Sherpao, was a left-wing intellectual and socialist, serving as the 15th Governor of North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, as well as vice-chairman of Pakistan People's Party. Sherpao held important executive offices, including served as the Interior minister and had held a number of provincial ministries of the North West Frontier Province. He was assassinated in 1975, and his death was blamed on a rival political party in the province - the Awami National Party of Khan Abdul Wali Khan.
General elections were held in Pakistan on 10 October 2002 to elect the 12th National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies. The elections were held under the military government of Pervez Musharraf. The two mainstream parties, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) had several restrictions imposed on them and their leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were in exile. In order to address the restrictions, PPP created the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) under the leadership of Ameen Faheem, to contest the elections on its behalf. The PML-N meanwhile, suffering from the party's division into two factions: one that remained loyal to Sharif and were contesting the elections under the leadership of Javed Hashmi, and the other which had broken away to form the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) under the leadership of Mian Muhammad Azhar. The emergence of the PML-Q marked the beginning of multi-party politics in the country, bringing an end to the decade-long two-party system between the PPP and PML-N.
The Provincial Assembly ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is located in Peshawar, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakistan, having a total of 145 seats, with 115 general seats, 26 seats reserved for women and 4 reserved for non-Muslims. The 11th Provincial Assembly of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was dissolved on 18 January 2023, and the province is set to elect a new legislature on 8 October 2023.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is a Pakistani politician who served as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office from 27 April 2022 to 10 August 2023. He became the chairman of Pakistan People's Party in 2007, following his mother's assassination. Bilawal belongs to the Bhutto family, a prominent political family of Pakistan and is the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari, and the grandson of former President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. When questioned about nepotism and dynastic politics in Pakistan in an interview with CNN, Bilawal famously stated "I didn't chose this life, it chose me". Bilawal had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 13 August 2018 till 10 August 2023.
Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi is a Pakistani politician who is serving as the 13th president of Pakistan, in office since 9 September 2018. He was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from June 2013 to May 2018 and again from August to September 2018. Alvi was a dentist before entering politics in 1979, when he joined Jamaat-e-Islami (Pakistan) but he later on resigned from the party and then joined famed cricketer Imran Khan's party in 1996 and is amongst the founding members of PTI.
Tariq Aziz was a Pakistani television host, poet and film actor, known for PTV's quiz show Neelam Ghar, first aired in 1974, later renamed the Tariq Aziz Show and lately as Bazm-e-Tariq Aziz. He was known for his iconic line " Dekhti Aankhon,Sunte Kaanon Tariq Aziz ka Salam".
General elections were held in Pakistan on 25 July 2018 to elect the members of 15th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties were Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan, the Pakistan Muslim League led by Shehbaz Sharif and the Pakistan Peoples Party led by Bilawal Bhutto. The PTI won the most seats in the National Assembly but fell short of a majority; the party subsequently formed a coalition government with several smaller parties. At the provincial level, the PTI remained the largest party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP); the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) retained its dominance in Sindh and the newly formed Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) emerged as the largest party in Balochistan. In Punjab, the result was a hung parliament with the Pakistan Muslim League (N) winning the most seats. However, after several independents MPAs joined the PTI, the latter became the largest party and was able to form a government.
Pak Sarzameen Party commonly known as PSP was a Pakistani political party founded by Syed Mustafa Kamal and Anis Kaimkhani on 23 March 2016. Ashfaq Mangi, Hassan Sabir, Iftikhar Alam and Shabbir Qaimkhani were senior members of the party. It merged into Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan on 12 January 2023.
