List of political parties in Pakistan

Brief history and overviews

The military-dominated Establishment has directly ruled Pakistan for nearly half of its existence since independence in 1947, while frequently exerting covert dominance over the political leadership during the remainder. 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.

Until 1990, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was the only major party of Pakistan. After Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto died, Benazir Bhutto took control and they remained in 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

Main article: Provincial Assembly of Punjab

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

Main article: Provincial Assembly of Sindh

Sindh has been used as a political stronghold for the Pakistan Muslim League N (PML-N) Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) since the party’s creation. The PTI, PML(N) & 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 PML(N) PPP and PTI 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 PML(N) PTI and PPP still holds sweeping majorities in Sindhi provincial seats.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK)

Main article: Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is full of Pashtun nationalist and regionalist parties favoring Afghan tribalism, such as the PML(N) ANP and PMAP. The region has also been full of religious parties, like the PML(N) 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.

Balochistan

Main article: Provincial Assembly of Balochistan

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.

Gilgit-Baltistan

Main article: Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly

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.

Mainstream political parties

Pakistan Muslim League (N)

The Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz is a Pakistani conservative political party that was founded in 1993 by senior politician, Nawaz Sharif. 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. It saw rapid growth under Nawaz Sharif in the 1990s as it entered a two-party system with the Pakistan People's Party. 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. 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 Sindh, more specifically Karachi and 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), Maryam Nawaz Sharif (1 term) and Nawaz's younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif (2 terms), who is serving right now.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

Pakistan People’s Party

Members of the Parliament

Provincial Assembly members

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 Provincial Assembly of Sindh, Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, Provincial Assembly of Balochistan, Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly

Unrepresented parties

This is the list of registered parties that are currently unrepresented in Parliament and any of the provincial assemblies of Pakistan since 2024.

Dissolved parties

Unregistered parties

Notes

References

References

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