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The second largest political party in the country after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) is largely accepted as the legitimate successor of the All India Muslim League of which Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was president. The party draws its electoral support from central and northern Punjab — the power base of the country — and most recently held 107 seats in the Parliament — 92 in National Assembly, and 15 in Senate.
From 2008 to 2013, PML-N ruled the Punjab province with PPP and PML-Q largely on the opposition benches. In all other assemblies, including the National Assembly, the party was on opposition benches for the most part.
The party’s leadership largely comprises of members of the commercial and professional urban middle class operating in alliance with landed elites.
History
The PML-N in its current form was founded in 1992. However, Sharif had already become the “undisputed leader” of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) by 1988.
Criticised for being patronised by the Ziaul Haq regime, the present day PML-N leadership entered the political arena by partaking in Ziaul Haq’s nominated parliament in 1981. Headed by Mohammad Khan Junejo during the Zia era, a PML government was installed in 1985 to give a civilian veneer to the regime.
Irked by Junejo’s increased independence, Zia dismissed his government in 1988. Subsequently, the League split into two factions, one led by Junejo and the other by Sharif.
The PML entered the 1988 election under the banner of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) — an alliance of political parties said to have been created by army generals to counter Benazir Bhutto’s PPP. However, the right-of-centre alliance could not capture enough seats in the National Assembly and PPP resulted in forming the first democratic government after Zia’s decade-long dictatorship.
In 1990 however, IJI secured enough national seats to form a government at the centre, allegedly again with support from the military establishment with Nawaz becoming the country’s prime minister. His government was dismissed in 1993 by the then president Ghualm Ishaq Khan.
Failing to gather support from religious parties to challenge the liberal PPP in the 1993 election, Sharif entered the polls under the name of PML-N for the first time. The party failed to secure seats sufficient for government formation and PPP took charge with Benazir as prime minister. However, Farooq Leghari dismissed Benazir's second government as pressure mounted on PPP through protests and corruption allegations.
In the general election of 1997, PML-N achieved its most notable triumph by securing close to a two-third majority in the National Assembly; a first in the country’s parliamentary history. The PML-N government gained more popularity by carrying out nuclear tests. However, it was ousted in a military coup led by Pervez Musharraf in 1999.
In the 2002 polls, the party was at its weakest with Sharif in exile and divisions surfacing in the form of factions, including one led by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain which chose to support the Musharraf regime.
The PML-N leadership eventually went on to sign the Charter of Democracy (CoD) with PPP in 2006 in order to define the parties’ joint opposition to Musharraf’s rule.
After Sharif’s return from exile in Saudi Arabia, PML-N launched an election campaign but decided to boycott the polls in the wake of Benazir’s assassination. However, the party finally decided to take part in the 2008 general election after deliberations with PPP’s new top leader — Asif Ali Zardari.
Political stance
The PML-N has shifted from the right towards the centre and its perception in the public has also altered from a group that was once pro-establishment to one that now appears to be anti-establishment. Very recently, it unveiled a manifesto focusing on the recovery of the country’s faltering economy.
The manifesto also refers to the party’s programs to address issues such as health, education, energy and law and order.
In its latest policy document, PML-N has also pledged to encourage "participation of women in national development" as well as to promote female engagement in the country's "social, political and economic empowerment".
Historically, PML-N has been conservative in its viewpoint towards society in general and has had close alliances with religious parties in the past. Sharif’s proposed legislation aimed at increasing the role of religion in governance during his 1990-93 government remains a case in point. And although, the party no longer appears to pursue a religion-centric model of governance, its ties to religious groups remain a subject of ongoing discussions in the country’s political and intellectual circles.
Over the years
In the wake of the 2008 general election and under a policy of reconciliation agreed between PPP and PML-N, Sharif’s party formed the government in Punjab and became part of the PPP-led coalition government at the centre.
However, thorny issues, such as reinstatement of judges deposed by Musharraf and unilateral nomination of Zardari as a presidential candidate, created a rift between the parties with the PML-N deciding to part ways with the federal government.
Since then, PML-N has been sitting on the opposition benches in all assemblies except Punjab and its relationship with PPP has been rocky at best.
However, as evident from recent popularity surveys, PML-N, more than any other party, has gained sufficient momentum entering into the last few weeks before the 2013 general election. The party has arrived at this position through timely and extensive planning as well as campaigning across the country.
Currently, the party leadership is indulging in negotiating seat adjustments and electoral alliances with a number of parties, such as Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), PML-Functional and some nationalist parties from Sindh.
However, Imran Khan’s PTI is set to give the PML-N a good run for its money in Punjab with its rallying cry for “change” in the political arena.
More recently, PML-N succeeded in cultivating 22 lawmakers from Balochistan into joining the party. The lawmakers include former PPP Balochistan president Lashkari Raisani.
Key figures
Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Ishaq Dar, Ghaus Ali Shah, Ahsan Iqbal, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Khawaja Asif, Mushahidullah Khan
— Research and text by Imran Kazmi
