scorecardresearch
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomePoliticsOne of these three men will be the next prime minister of...

One of these three men will be the next prime minister of Pakistan

Follow Us :
Text Size:

PTI chief Imran Khan, PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif of the PML-N are the prominent faces in the 25 July polls.

New Delhi: As Pakistan goes to polls on 25 July — only the second time that a democratically elected government is making way for another — here is a ready reckoner on the main candidates and their parties.

Shehbaz Sharif

He is a three-time chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, and in March 2018, was elected president of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). With his brother and former PM Nawaz Sharif and his daughter and political heir Maryam in jail, Shehbaz Sharif is the face of the PML-N for these elections. Shehbaz Sharif was forced to flee Pakistan after the military coup of 1999 and returned home only in 2007. During his second term as CM in 2009, Shehbaz Sharif was disqualified from holding public office by the Supreme Court, a decision which, however, was overturned by another bench.

Shehbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif, addresses a crowd in Sargodha, Pakistan | @CMShehbaz/Twitter
Shehbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif, addresses a crowd in Sargodha, Pakistan | @CMShehbaz/Twitter

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)

It emerged as one of the successor parties of Pakistan Muslim League in 1988. Its founding president was Fida Mohammad Khan while Nawaz Sharif was its first secretary-general.  As part of a coalition, it formed the government in 1990 and then again in 1997, before its leader and prime minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted in the 1999 military coup. It emerged as the largest party in 2013 elections and formed government. PML (N) is considered a centre-right party with a liberal economic focus and has a strong base in Punjab.

Imran Khan

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan is best known as the captain who won the Cricket World Cup for his country in 1992. A graduate of University of Oxford, he founded PTI in 1996. He is a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly. Known for his philanthropic activities, including investments in hospitals, he has positioned himself as an outsider who doesn’t hail from any political dynasty. Imran Khan is a vocal critic of the US’ involvement in Pakistan’s polity.

Imran Khan addressing a rally at Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab province of Pakistan | @ImranKhanPTI/Twiter
Imran Khan addressing a rally at Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab province of Pakistan | @ImranKhanPTI/Twiter

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf 

Founded in 1996, PTI won the third largest number of seats in the 2013 national elections. It also governs Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Ideologically positioned as a centre-right party, it advocates welfarism and a democratic system infused with Islamic ideals. The party is frequently accused of receiving support from Pakistan’s security establishment.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

He is the son of late PM Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari. Educated at Oxford, he was named chairman of Pakistan People’s Party in 2007 at the age of 19 when his mother was assassinated. Initially, he was more of a titular head as his father controlled the reins, but over time Bilawal has come to assume a much larger role in the party’s functioning.

 

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressing a rally at Khairpur Nathan Shah, Sindh | @BBhuttoZardari/Twitter
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressing a rally at Khairpur Nathan Shah, Sindh | @BBhuttoZardari/Twitter

Pakistan People’s Party

Founded by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1967, the PPP is one of Pakistan’s oldest and most prominent parties. The party has been in power on five separate occasions, the last time being in 2008-13. In the outgoing National Assembly (2013-18), it is the main opposition party. PPP is considered a centre-left party with socialist ideals. It has a stronghold in Sindh province. The party has faced criticism on various corruption charges, particularly relating to its leader Asif Ali Zardari.

Smaller parties 

Muttahida Qaumi Movement

The MQM claims to be a party for the poor and middle-class but believes in free market economy. Earlier, Karachi was considered to be the stronghold of the party, but recent crackdowns on party members and splits have reduced it to a shadow of its former self. MQM leader Altaf Hussain fled the country in 1992 after a crackdown against his party and has been living in London ever since.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl

The JUIF is a religious party which is part of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance in Pakistan. But it is expected to hold on to its stronghold in Battagram district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Being part of the MMA alliance, the JUIF is still expected to create problems for the national parties in certain pockets.

Results of the election will be announced on 26 July, 2018 | Infographic: Arindam Mukherjee
Results of the election will be announced on 26 July, 2018 | Infographic: Arindam Mukherjee

Fundamentalist forces

This election is also notable for the several religious fundamentalist parties that have been floated to push voters much further towards the right of the traditionally conservative parties like the PML-N. The three prominent parties are:

Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan

It’s a hardline religious party founded in 2017. It is led by a far-right scholar Khadim Hussain Rizvi and most of its leaders subscribe to the Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam. The party rose to prominence when it organised a blockade in Islamabad in 2017 on the issue of a change in electoral oath. The party called it ‘blasphemy’ and this has emerged as the central plank of the party’s electoral strategy.

Faceless female candidates of Pakistan's fundamentalist Labbaik Party
Faceless female candidates of Pakistan’s fundamentalist Tehreek-i-Labbaik Party

Milli Muslim League 

This is an Islamist party launched by the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, Hafiz Saeed, and his organisation Jamat-ud Dawa. Soon after it was launched last August 2017, Pakistan’s Election Commission rejected its registration application. In April 2018, the party was designated as a political front of banned terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba by the US State Department.

Hafiz Saeed
File image of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed | YouTube

Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek

This far-right party is led by Mian Ihsan Bari, a doctor from Punjab University in Lahore. After Milli Muslim League’s registration was rejected by the Election Commission, it has given its support to this party. The party has fielded 260 candidates for the upcoming elections with 79 for the National Assembly and 181 for the provincial assemblies. Hafiz Saeed’s son is one of its candidates. Interestingly, despite being a fundamentalist party, it has decided to field 14 women candidates in the upcoming election.

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular