An overview of Pakistan’s political parties and their (many) offshoots

After months of build-up, former PML-N leaders Miftah Ismail and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi announced the formation of a new political party in June, before formally launching it today at a ceremony in Islamabad.

The launch didn’t exactly come as a surprise as the idea of a new political entity had been floated by the two leaders for a while now. But this is not a new phenomenon. Pakistan has, over the years, gotten used to seeing upset politicians jumping ship or creating an entirely new one.

Here, Dawn.com briefly discusses incidents when cracks inside political parties deepened just enough to give birth to new groups.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)

The PML-N is regarded as one of the largest political parties in Pakistan today and is currently leading a coalition government in the Centre. However, there was a time when it was a part of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML).

The Nawaz Sharif-led party got its current name only when a lobby, supporting leader Muhammad Khan Junejo, broke away from the PML in 1993. What was left was renamed PML-Nawaz, or PML-N.

To date, the party remains the largest faction of the PML. But over the years, we have seen multiple factions coming out of the PML-N, from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) to the most recent ‘Awaam Pakistan’ party.

Awaam Pakistan Party

The latest player in the political scene, Awaam Pakistan came to being after months of speculation. The party goes by the tagline ‘Awaam Pakistan: *Badlein ge nizam’* (People of Pakistan: We will change the system).

Chatter surrounding the party’s inception had been buzzing for several months. Abbasi and Ismail — two prominent former PML-N leaders — along with former PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar were said to have been working on the project after quitting their respective parties. They had also formed a group of political mavericks that held a series of seminars under the banner of ‘Reimagining Pakistan’.

However, sources told Dawn that Khokhar was not a part of the new party due to some differences.

PML-Q

Now let’s take a walk down memory lane. During the second Nawaz regime (1997-99), a major rift took place. When the elder Sharif was toppled by the late Gen Pervez Musharraf, four former PML-N leaders — Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, Mushahid Hussain and Sheikh Rashid — decided to shift sides and back the former dictator.

Subsequently, when Musharraf assumed the presidency, these four coopted more members from the PML-N and other groups of the PML and PPP. Together, they formed the PML-Q and went on to win the 2002 election.

In 2023, Elahi joined the PTI along with 10 former MPAs.

Others factions

Soon after the Chaudhrys came together to form a new faction, Ijazul Haq — son of Ziaul Haq and former PML-N member — formed the Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z). Last year, it was reported that the PML-Z would be merging with the PTI. However, Ijaz later refuted the reports.

On the other hand, veteran politician Sheikh Rashid formed the Awami Muslim League Pakistan in 2008. He was aligned with the government during the PTI’s tenure.

Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP)

The PPP was founded on November 30, 1967, when a group of left-leaning political workers and intellectuals came together in Lahore and formed an alliance against then-military ruler General Ayub Khan.

Under the leadership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the party went on to sweep the 1977 elections. However, his tenure was cut short when Gen Zia staged a coup in 1977 and imposed martial law. Bhutto was subsequently hanged.

This is the point where cracks started appearing within the PPP. As Benazir Bhutto took over the reins of the party, it saw divisions in the form of factions and breakaway groups.

PPP-Parliamentarians

The PPP-Parliamentarians is an electoral extension of the PPP. It was formed in August 2002 to meet the requirements of a decree issued by the then-military ruler.

Back then, a law was framed to bar Benazir from holding a party office and the new political entity was a bid to avert the imminent threat of losing the chance of contesting the elections.

PPP (Shaheed Bhutto)

Benazir faced a significant challenge from her brother Murtaza Bhutto, who had formed the People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto) in 1996 in honour of their father.

However, during her tenure as the prime minister, Murtaza was killed near his Karachi residence in an alleged shootout with police. Subsequently, his widow Ghinwa Bhutto took over and remains the chairperson of the group to date.

PPP-Sherpao

Another faction that came out of the PPP was the Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao (PPP-S), formed by Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao from Charsadda district. He developed differences with Benazir after the PPP’s humiliating defeat in the 1997 elections.

Sherpao enjoyed varying degrees of success, relying mostly on candidates over whom he had personal influence to maintain a reasonable presence in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Over time, Sherpao veered towards Pakhtun nationalist politics and later launched the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) as a challenger to the Awami National Party.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)

The PTI saw a massive exodus following the arrest of party chief Imran Khan on May 9. The ensuing state crackdown on the party culminated in the birth of two factions.

One was said to have the back of the establishment while the other managed to gain support from fellow political parties.

PTI-Parliamentarians

Last year, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) was formed by PTI deserters in KP, including former chief minister Pervez Khattak. The party was confident of roping in more politicians and making a mark in the 2024 general elections.

However, after he failed to win a single seat during the polls, Khattak resigned as the president of PTI-P citing poor health.

Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP)

Similarly, following May 9, Jahangir Tarin — once a close aide of Imran — launched a new party last year; the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP). Following the announcement, several former PTI defectors such as Aleem Khan, Imran Ismail, Ali Zaidi and Fayyazul Hasan Chohan flocked to the IPP.

However, the party met a fate similar to that of the PTI-P. Tarin announced his decision to quit politics altogether just four days after the elections.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)

Since the 1988 general elections, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), under the leadership of its founder Altaf Hussain, consistently emerged as the predominant political force in Karachi, except for 1993 when it abstained from contesting National Assembly seats.

This dominance persisted even in 2002, despite competition from the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, which managed to secure six NA seats in Karachi’s traditional MQM strongholds.

In the last decade, the MQM has experienced internal fragmentation, resulting in the emergence of various factions and groups within the party.

Mohajir Qaumi Movement or MQM-Haqiqi

In 1992, Altaf Hussain’s Mohajir Qaumi Movement faced its first challenge when a faction led by Afaq Ahmed and Amir Khan emerged. This dissident group formed the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-Haqiqi), with Ahmed serving as chairman and Amir as secretary general.

The formation of the breakaway faction coincided with the military-led Operation Clean-up against Hussain’s MQM. Despite limited public support, evident from electoral outcomes in 1993, 1997, and 2002, the faction maintained its ‘control’ over various areas in Karachi for a decade.

Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP)

In March 2016, former Karachi mayor Syed Mustafa Kamal challenged the dominance of Hussain by launching his political party called the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP).

Earlier that month, MQM dissident Kamal made a series of serious allegations against Hussain. He accused the party chief of deceit, delivering speeches under the influence of alcohol, and mismanagement of the MQM.

Several former prominent MQM members such as Advocate Anis, Raza Haroon, Anis Kaimkhani, Dr Sagheer, Iftikhar Alam and Waseem Aftab joined Kamal’s new party.

The Ps and Ls of MQM

Then on August 22, 2016, following an incendiary speech by Hussain, the leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), there was a crackdown on the party’s leaders and workers based in Pakistan. Soon after, these leaders distanced themselves from Hussain and declared their intention to wrest control of the party from him.

This division led to the formation of MQM-Pakistan (MQM-P), initially under the leadership of Farooq Sattar and currently led by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. Meanwhile, Hussain continued to lead MQM-London (MQM-L) from his base in London.

In January of last year, despite concerns, three factions — MQM-P, PSP, and the PIB group led by Sattar — announced their merger. The fourth group within the country — MQM-Haqiqi, led by Afaq Ahmed — refused to join their side.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI)

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) emerged from the ranks of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind (JUH). Founded in 1919 with anti-colonial objectives and aligned with the Indian National Congress. JUI broke away from JUH over its support for the creation of Pakistan as a separate homeland for the subcontinent’s Muslims.

In the decades following independence, JUI had limited electoral influence. However, starting in the 1970s, the party began to gain political traction and evolved into a significant politico-religious entity under the leadership of Maulana Mufti Mahmud. His son, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, succeeded him after his death in 1980.

JUI-F and JUI-S

In the mid-1980s, JUI split into two: the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), led by Fazl, and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami (JUI-S), led by Maulana Samiul Haq, This split arose from disagreements over whether to align with Ziaul Haq’s government and allegedly due to personal differences.

Fazl was able to build on his father’s legacy to establish significant political influence and achieve success in electoral contests. In contrast, JUI-S faced challenges in electoral politics, with only Haq serving two terms in the indirectly-elected Senate from 1985.