List of political parties in Pakistan

Pakistan is a multi-party democracy. The country has many political parties and many times in past the country is ruled by coalition government.

The Parliament of Pakistan is bicameral, consisting of the National Assembly of Pakistan and the Senate.

Brief history and overviews[]

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, leading Pakistan to join the War on Terror.

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 2019, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was formed of many parties remove Establishment's involvement in politics.

Gilgit-Baltistan[]

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.

Currently in Gilgit-Baltistan, any party can win and any party can go down.

National Assembly and Senate members[]

	Flag	Date of foundation	Political position	Leader	National Assembly	Senate
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf		1996	Centre-right to right-wing	Imran Khan	156 / 342	28 / 100
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz		1993	Centre-right	Shehbaz Sharif	84 / 342	18 / 100
Pakistan Peoples Party		1967	Centre to Centre-left	Bilawal Bhutto	56 / 342	21 / 100
Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]		2017	Centre	Khalid Maqbool	7 / 342	3 / 100
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Mainly: Jamaat-e-Islami Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam--Fazl		2002	Right-wing to far- right	Sirajul Haq Fazl-ur-Rahman	15 / 342	JI 1 / 100 JUI-F 5 / 100
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam		2002	Centre to centre-right	Shujaat Hussain	5 / 342	1 / 100
Awami National Party		1986	Center-left to left-wing	Asfandyar Wali	1 / 342	2 / 100
Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party		1989	Left-wing	Mahmood Achakzai	0 / 342	2 / 100
National Party		2003	Centre-left	Abdul Malik Baloch	0 / 342	2 / 100
Balochistan National Party		1996	Left-wing	Akhtar Mengal	4 / 342	1 / 100
Balochistan Awami Party		2018	Centre	Jam Kamal Khan	5 / 342	12 / 100
Grand Democratic Alliance		2018	Centre	Sibghatullah Rashdi	3 / 342	1 / 100
Awami Muslim League Pakistan		2008	Centre	Sheikh Rashid Ahmed	1 / 342	0 / 100
Jamhoori Wattan Party			Left-wing	Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti	1 / 342	0 / 100
Independent	N/A				4 / 342	3 / 100

Unrepresented parties[]

This is the list of registered parties that are currently unrepresented in Parliament and Provincial Assemblies.^[7]

	Date of foundation	Political position	Leader	National Assembly	Senate
Jamiat Ahle Hadith	1986	Far-right	Sajid Mir	N/A	N/A
Pak Sarzameen Party	2016	Center to Center-right	Mustafa Kamal	N/A	N/A
Pasban Pakistan	2015	Single-issue	Altaf Shakoor	N/A	N/A
Awami Workers Party	2012	Left-wing	Yousuf Mastikhan^[8]	N/A	N/A
All Pakistan Muslim League	2010	Centre to centre-right	Pervez Musharraf	N/A	N/A
Barabri Party Pakistan	2018		Jawad Ahmad	N/A	N/A
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S)	1980	Far-right	Hamid Ul Haq Haqqani^[9]	N/A	N/A
Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan	1948		Shah Owais Noorani^[10]	N/A	N/A
Jamote Qaumi Movement	1996		Mir Abdul Majid Abro	N/A	N/A
Pakistan Awami Tehreek	1989	Centrism Fiscal: Centre-left Social: Centre-right	Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri	N/A	N/A
Justice and Democratic Party	2015	Far-right^{[citation needed]}	Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry	N/A	N/A
Pakistan Muslim League (J)	1988		Muhammad Iqbal Dar^[7]	N/A	N/A
Pakistan Muslim League (Z)	2002	Far-right	Ijaz-ul-Haq	N/A	N/A
Pakistan Peoples Party (Shaheed Bhutto)	1997		Ghinwa Bhutto	N/A	N/A
Pakistan Peoples Party Workers	2014	Centre-left	Safdar Ali Abbasi	N/A	N/A
Qaumi Watan Party	2012	Centre-left	Aftab Ahmad Sherpao	N/A	N/A
Mustaqbil Pakistan	2010		Nadeem Mumtaz Qureshi^[11]	N/A	N/A
Sindh United Party	2006		Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah	N/A	N/A
Pakistan Sunni Tehreek	1990		Sarwat Ejaz Qadri^[12]	N/A	N/A
Sunni Ittehad Council	2009		Sahibzada Hamid Raza^[7]	N/A	N/A
Pakistan Awami Raj Party			Jamshed Dasti	N/A	N/A
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Gulalai)	2018		Ayesha Gulalai	N/A	N/A
All Pakistan Minorities Alliance			Paul Bhatti	N/A	N/A
Sunni Tehreek	1990		Ahmad Bilal Qadri^[7]	N/A	N/A
Qomi Awami Tehreek	1970	Left-wing to far-left	Ayaz Latif Palijo^[7]	N/A	N/A
Bahawalpur National Awami Party	2010		Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi	N/A	N/A
Muhajir Qaumi Movement Pakistan	1990		Afaq Ahmed	N/A	N/A
Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek			Ihsan Bari^[7]	N/A	N/A
Tabdeeli Pasand Party Pakistan	2012		Ali Kazi^[13]	N/A	N/A

Dissolved parties[]

	Date of foundation	Date of dissolution	Political position	Founder/Leader
Muslim League	1947	1958	Big tent	Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Republican Party	1955	1958	Big tent	Feroz Khan Noon
Pakistan Socialist Party	1948	1958	Left-wing
Azad Pakistan Party	1949		Left-wing	Mian Iftikharuddin
National Awami Party	1957	1967	Left-wing	Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani
National Awami Party (Wali)	1967	1986	Left-wing	Khan Abdul Wali Khan
Convention Muslim League	1962			Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman^[14]
Council Muslim League	1962			Khawaja Nazimuddin^[14]
Muslim League (Qayyum)	1970			Abdul Qayyum Khan
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam	1945	1980		Shabbir Ahmad Usmani
All Pakistan Awami Muslim League	1950	1971		Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Pakistan Muslim League	1962	1971		Ayub Khan
Islami Jamhoori Ittehad	1988	1990	Right-wing	Nawaz Sharif
Pakistan Muslim League (Jinnah)	1995	2004		Manzoor Wattoo
National Peoples Party	1986	2013	Far-right^{[citation needed]}	Mustafa Jatoi
Millat Party	1997	2004		Farooq Leghari
Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Nazryati	2007	2016		Maulvi Asmatullah
Pakistan Peoples Muslim League	2009	2013		Arbab Ghulam Rahim
Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Pakistan	2012	2013		Abdul Qadeer Khan
Pakistan Muslim League (Qayyum)	1970
Tehreek-e-Istiqlal	1970	2012		Asghar Khan
Sindh National Front	1989	2017		Mumtaz Bhutto
Awami Jamhuri Ittehad Pakistan	2012	2015		Liaqat Khan Tarakai
Khaksar movement	1931			Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi
Qaumi Inqilabi Party	1987		Left-wing
Sindh Hari Committee	1930		Left-wing	G. M. Syed
Tehreek-e-Jafaria	1979			Arif Hussain Hussaini
Ganatantri Dal	1953	1957		Mahmud Ali Haji Mohammad Danesh
Labour Party Pakistan	1986	2012	Left-wing to Far-left
Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party	1974			Afzal Shah Khamosh
Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party	1995	2015	Far-left
Sindh Awami Ittehad	2012	2012		Liaquat Ali Jatoi
Pakistan Democratic Party	1967	2012		Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan
Pukhtoonkhwa Mazdoor Kissan Party	1979	1989		Sher Ali Bacha^[15]
Sindh Mohajir Punjabi Pathan Muttahida Mahaz	1969			Nawab Muzaffar Khan^[16]
National Workers Party	1999	2010	Left-wing	Abid Hassan Minto

Unregistered parties[]

	Date of foundation	Political position	Leader
Aam Aadmi Party (Pakistan)	2014		Arslan Ul Mulk
Mazdoor Kisan Party	1968	Far-left	Afzal Shah Khamosh^[17]
Pakistan Christian Congress	1985	Centre-right	Nazir S Bhatti
Pakistan Women Muslim League	2013
Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party	1991	Left-wing	Qadir Magsi
Pakistan Green Party	2002		Liaquat Ali Shaikh
Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam	1929		Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah Chaudhry Afzal Haq
Communist Party of Pakistan	1948	Far-left	Jameel Ahmad Malik
National Democratic Movement	2021	Centre-left	Mohsin Dawar
Pakistan Social Democratic Party			Mujeeb ur Rehman Kiani
Communist Party of Pakistan (Thaheem)	2002		Khadim Thaheem

Provincial Assembly members[]

This is the list of parties that are currently represented in Provincial Assemblies of Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, KPK and Gilgit Baltistan Assembly:

Party		Flag	Provincial Assembly
	Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf		Sindh 30 / 168 Punjab 184 / 371 Balochistan 7 / 65 KPK 94 / 145 Gilgit Baltistan 22 / 33
	Pakistan Muslim League (N)		Punjab 165 / 371 Balochistan 1 / 65 KPK 7 / 145 Gilgit Baltistan 3 / 33
	Pakistan Peoples Party		Sindh 99 / 168 Punjab 7 / 371 KPK 5 / 145 Gilgit Baltistan 4 / 33
	Jamaat-e-Islami		Sindh 1 / 168 KPK 3 / 145
	Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)		Balochistan 11 / 65 KPK 15 / 145 Gilgit Baltistan 1 / 33
	Pakistan Muslim League (Q)		Punjab 10 / 371 KPK 1 / 145
	Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan		Sindh 21 / 168
	Awami National Party		Balochistan 4 / 65 KPK 12 / 145
	Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party		Balochistan 1 / 65
	Balochistan National Party		Balochistan 10 / 65
	Balochistan Awami Party		Balochistan 24 / 65 KPK 4 / 145
	Grand Democratic Alliance		Sindh 14 / 168
	Jamhoori Wattan Party		Balochistan 1 / 65
	Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan		Sindh 3 / 168
	BNP (Awami)		Balochistan 3 / 65
	Hazara Democratic Party		Balochistan 2 / 65
	Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen		Gilgit Baltistan 1 / 33
	Balawaristan National Front		Gilgit Baltistan 1 / 33
	Pakistan Rah-e-Haq Party		Punjab 1 / 371
	Islami Tehreek Pakistan		Gilgit Baltistan 1 / 33

References[]

^ Shah, Saeed (19 August 2019). "Pakistan Extends Powerful Army Chief's Term". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2015). The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience. Oxford University Press. p. 586. ISBN 978-0-19-023518-5. 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.
^ "MQM is a liberal and democratic party: Altaf." Daily Times, Pakistan 26 May 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
^ "Farooq Sattar vows to fight for Printing Press Quarters residents" The Express Tribune, 30 August 2018. Retrieved 02 September 2020.
^ Haq F. "Rise of the MQM in Pakistan: Politics of Ethnic Mobilisation." Asian Survey, University of California Press 1 November 1999 35(11) p990 – 1004 doi=10.1525/as.1995.35.11.01p00677 Accessed 3 August 2009.
^ "Pakistan: Human rights crisis in Karachi." Archived 4 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine Amnesty International 1 February 1996. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "List of Enlisted Political Parties" (PDF). www.ecp.gov.pk. Election Commission of Pakistan. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
^ "Rally protests against inflation, islands' usurpation, feudalism". The News International. 6 December 2020.
^ "Maulana Sami's son named JUI-S acting chief". The Express Tribune. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
^ "PM Imran Khan will have to resign: Shah Owais Noorani | SAMAA". Samaa TV. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
^ "Mustaqbil Pakistan: New party boasts of a 'professional cadre' – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 25 May 2014.
^ "Sunni Tehrik becomes a political party". dawn.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
^ Imtiaz Ali, and Jan Khaskheli (20 January 2012). "'Tabdeeli Pasands' of Sindh to launch". The News International. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "From All India Muslim League to Pakistan Muslim League". Pakistan Today. 23 June 2021.
^ "An unmatched leader". The News International (newspaper). 15 August 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
^ "A leaf from history: Dousing the fire of hate". Dawn (newspaper). 13 October 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
^ "Afghanistan's situation: Pakhtun Qaumi Jirga urges govt to revisit foreign policy". The News International (newspaper). 8 August 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.

External links[]

Election Commission of Pakistan

[1] Shah, Saeed (19 August 2019). "Pakistan Extends Powerful Army Chief's Term". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 19 May 2021.

[2] Jaffrelot, Christophe (2015). The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience. Oxford University Press. p. 586. ISBN 978-0-19-023518-5. 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.

[3] "MQM is a liberal and democratic party: Altaf." Daily Times, Pakistan 26 May 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2011.

[4] "Farooq Sattar vows to fight for Printing Press Quarters residents" The Express Tribune, 30 August 2018. Retrieved 02 September 2020.

[5] Haq F. "Rise of the MQM in Pakistan: Politics of Ethnic Mobilisation." Asian Survey, University of California Press 1 November 1999 35(11) p990 – 1004 doi=10.1525/as.1995.35.11.01p00677 Accessed 3 August 2009.

[6] "Pakistan: Human rights crisis in Karachi." Archived 4 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine Amnesty International 1 February 1996. Retrieved 26 July 2009.

[:List-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "List of Enlisted Political Parties" (PDF). www.ecp.gov.pk. Election Commission of Pakistan. Retrieved 19 March 2021.

[8] "Rally protests against inflation, islands' usurpation, feudalism". The News International. 6 December 2020.

[9] "Maulana Sami's son named JUI-S acting chief". The Express Tribune. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2021.

[10] "PM Imran Khan will have to resign: Shah Owais Noorani | SAMAA". Samaa TV. Retrieved 1 June 2021.

[11] "Mustaqbil Pakistan: New party boasts of a 'professional cadre' – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 25 May 2014.

[12] "Sunni Tehrik becomes a political party". dawn.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.

[13] Imtiaz Ali, and Jan Khaskheli (20 January 2012). "'Tabdeeli Pasands' of Sindh to launch". The News International. Retrieved 5 September 2021.

[Pakistan_Today-14] Jump up to: ^a ^b "From All India Muslim League to Pakistan Muslim League". Pakistan Today. 23 June 2021.

[15] "An unmatched leader". The News International (newspaper). 15 August 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.

[16] "A leaf from history: Dousing the fire of hate". Dawn (newspaper). 13 October 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2021.

[17] "Afghanistan's situation: Pakhtun Qaumi Jirga urges govt to revisit foreign policy". The News International (newspaper). 8 August 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.

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