Formed in: 2008

AML was formed by Sheikh Rashid soon after his humiliating defeat in 2008 general elections at the hands of then PML-N stalwart Javed Hashmi.

Key leaders

• Sheikh Rashid

Key concerns

• Ending social inequality
• End corruption

2018 elections

AML has fielded candidates from two NA seats — both from Punjab.

2013 elections

The party was only able to win a single seat — NA-55 Rawalpindi — with support from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). It decided to lend support to the PTI on all other seats across the country.

Political plays

• Having enjoyed political power for decades, with his associations with Zia, Nawaz and Musharraf, Rashid formed the AML to keep his political aspirations alive after a humbling defeat in 2008 elections in which he managed to secure just over 15,000 votes to come third.

• The party has since allied itself with the PTI on all issues, having failed to build a structure of its own. Nevertheless, Rashid has maintained his distinct position in Pakistani politics and decided against merging his party with the PTI.

• He was one of the petitioners in the Panamagate case and the only one to fight his case on his own, without a legal counsel.

• Following the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif in the Panama case, Rashid was pitched by PTI as its candidate for premiership against PML-N's Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. Although he lost the election, the move signified the importance of Rashid within the PTI, which put him forward instead of one of its own leaders.

• Rashid's next move was to file a petition against then prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, seeking his disqualification for alleged corruption in the LNG scandal, soon after he took office.