The APML’s stances and political positions are said to be based on principles from the Holy Quran, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s speech of August 11, 1947, the Objectives Resolution  and the Constitution of 1973.

The party endeavours to focus on the public at a fundamental level by implementing principles of an Islamic social welfare system, which its manifesto claims, has been ignored in the past by lawmakers and political parties.

The APML also guarantees protection against both external and internal threats to national security and pledges zero-tolerance for terrorism.

Moreover, the party’s education policy tries to take a holistic approach on the matter and pledges to increase the education budget to six per cent of the GDP in five years’ time. To improve organisational efficiency, APML says it would devolve the responsibility for primary and secondary education to the district government, task the provincial government with looking after college education and delegate the management of university education to the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Moreover, APML’s policy on madrassah education advocates incorporating religious seminaries into the country’s mainstream education system.

The party’s policy on resolving the country’s energy crisis centres around reducing Pakistan’s dependence on non-renewable power sources like natural and gas and oil. The APML has therefore pledged to focus on increasing power generation from renewable sources like water (hydroelectric power), wind and sun, as well as nuclear power, in order to bring the energy crisis to an end.

The APML also aims at increasing the GDP by at least six per cent every year. It is not in favour of borrowing and has vowed to only allow it in a controlled manner. The party also aims at ensuring that the country’s debt to GDP ratio never exceeds 60 per cent.

Along with the above promises, APML has also promised to control inflation, increase exports, encourage growth of small and medium enterprises, and create an investor-friendly environment in the country.

The APML’s policy on women aims at taking wide-ranging approaches on the matter by making connections between women empowerment and sectors such as health, education and economy. Along with a number of other measures in this direction, the party vows to have a special focus on reforms of laws discriminatory towards women.

Politics and electoral viability Born mainly out of Musharraf’s idea of returning to the country’s political arena after a forced resignation from the position of president in 2008, APML’s electoral viability remains negligible. Apart from an acute dearth of electables within the party, APML’s campaign of attracting public attention and support has also remained weak.

Moreover, Musharraf, who is the face of the party, has been a subject of controversy and division on a national level, and has been named in cases relating to the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti, the Lal Masjid operation, the deposing of judges of the country’s superior courts as well as the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

The APML has also attempted to cultivate leaders from other parties but those attempts appear to have failed. In this respect, the name of Imran Farooq, a former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader, came up after his assassination in 2010. However, the veracity of the information could not be confirmed.

In the 2013 election, the only prominent APML leader to stand is Musharraf himself. However, it remains to be seen how the cases against the retired general as well as the call of the voters would eventually determine his fate in the country’s political set-up.

Key figures Pervez Musharraf, Rashid Qureshi, Mian Zahid Sarfaraz, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Muhammad Amjad Chaudhry

Research and text by Soonha Abro