The Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML–N) is a centre to centre-right political party in Pakistan. It is one of the three major mainstream political parties alongside the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. PML–N currently holds the most seats in the National Assembly; and third-most in the Senate. Led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the party currently heads the federal coalition government; alongside a majoritarian government in Punjab under Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, while serving as a coalition partner in the PPP-led government in Balochistan.
The PML–N emerged as one of the factions of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) in 1993, following the dissolution of the Islami Jamhuri Ittihad (IJI), of which it was widely regarded as the successor. The PML–N lost the 1993 general election to its main rival, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) but won the 1997 general election and formed their first government under founder and namesake Nawaz Sharif until 1999 when he was overthrown in a military coup by Pervez Musharraf. Afterward, Sharif went into exile in Saudi Arabia and the PML–N was eclipsed by a splinter faction, the Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML–Q), for almost a decade. Sharif and PPP leader Benazir Bhutto signed the Charter of Democracy in London in 2006, signaling an alliance between the two main parties to end Musharraf's military rule.
The PML–N regained its popularity after Sharif's return to Pakistan in late 2007 and became the second-largest party in the 2008 general election. The party returned to power with Nawaz Sharif elected as Prime Minister in the 2013 general election. After losing to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the 2018 general election, the PML–N regained authority through a no-confidence motion against PTI's leader and Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022 and then won the 2024 general election, this time with Nawaz Sharif's younger brother Shehbaz Sharif.
The party's platform is generally described as fiscally conservative, supporting free markets, deregulation, private ownership, and advocating for peace through strength policy. Sometimes described a centrist party, the PML–N’s political position has historically varied from centre-right to centre-left. The PML–N administrations have been called "authoritarian regimes" by The Economist Democracy Index surveys.
Background
Breakaway from the original PML
Upon the creation of Pakistan and departure of the British Crown in 1947, the All-India Muslim League (AIML) became the Muslim League, which was now led by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. After the assassination of Prime Minister Ali Khan, the Muslim League struggled to revive itself, eventually losing control of East Pakistan in legislative elections to the Left Front. Internal disagreement over the party's direction, lack of a political program, motivation for public reforms, and inadequate administrative preparations and mismanagement all led to the public decline of the party. With the Socialist Party, the Muslim League struggled for its survival while facing the Republican Party and Awami League. The martial law imposed in 1958 eventually outlawed all political parties in the country.
The foundation and ground base of the PML-N lies with the Pakistan Muslim League, which was founded in 1962 as an enriched conservative project derived from the defunct Muslim League. The PML was presided over by Fatima Jinnah, who actively participated in presidential elections held in 1965 against Muhammad Ayub Khan. After Fatima Jinnah's death, the PML was led by Nurul Amin, a Bengali leader, who deepened its role in West Pakistan.
On a nationalist and conservative platform, the party engaged in political campaigns against the leftist Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or Bengali nationalist party, the Awami League, in the general elections held in 1970. It managed to secure only two electoral seats in the East Pakistan parliament and only ten in the National Assembly of Pakistan. In spite of its limited mandate, Nurul Amin became the prime minister and vice-president of Pakistan – the only figure to have been appointed as vice-president. The PML government was short-lived and soon its government fell in the aftermath of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The PML-N is ideologically close to the military and holds common beliefs on national security.
Electoral history
The Pakistan Muslim League went into a political abyss after the death of Nurul Amin and during the PPP and PTI government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Prime Minister Imran Khan. It made a strong comeback in response to Bhutto's nationalisation program in the 1970s. Influential young activists, including Nawaz Sharif, Javed Hashmi, Zafar-ul-Haq, and Shujaat Hussain, ascended as the leaders of the party and started their political career through the Muslim League.
The party became an integral part of the nine-party alliance, PNA, against the PPP, and campaigned against the PPP in the 1977 general elections. They campaigned on a right-wing platform and raised conservative slogans in the 1977 general elections. The PML, including Sharif and Hussain, were a conglomerate of diverse views and had provided large capital for the Muslim League's financial expenses. It was at this time that the party was revived and joined the anti-Bhutto PNA with Pir Pagara, an influential Sindhi conservative figure, as its elected president.
After the martial law of 1977, the party reassessed itself and saw the rise of the powerful oligarch bloc led by Zahoor Illahi, who was the main PML leader. After the 1984 referendum, President Zia-ul-Haq had become the country's elected president. During the 1985 general election, a new PML-N emerged on the country's political scene. The party had supported the presidency of Zia-ul-Haq and won his support to appoint Mohammad Khan Junejo to the office of Prime Minister. Nawaz Sharif had won the favour and support of President Zia-ul-Haq, who approved his appointment as Chief Minister of Punjab Province in 1985.
1988 general elections
The modern history of the party began during the 1988 parliamentary elections, when the Pakistan Muslim League, led by former prime minister Mohammed Khan Junejo, split into two factions: one was led by Fida Mohammad Khan and Nawaz Sharif, the then chief minister of Punjab Province, and the other by Junejo (who later founded the Pakistan Muslim League (F)).
In 1988, the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz was founded and established by Fida Mohammad Khan, an original Pakistan Movement activist, who became the party's founding president, whilst Nawaz Sharif became its first secretary-general. The party is not the original Muslim League, but claims to be its continuing legal successor.
At the time of the 1988 elections, the PML was part of the eight-party Islamic Democratic Alliance (IDA), which had contained the right-wing conservative mass as one entity against the left-wing circles, led by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). The general elections of 1988 marked the emergence of the Pakistan People's Party's as the single largest political party, with its election to 94 of 237 seats in the state parliament. The IDA occupied 55 seats, but an influential leader, Nawaz Sharif, chose to serve the Chief Minister of Punjab Province. With Benazir Bhutto elevated to the post Prime Minister of Pakistan, the IDA nominated Abdul Wali Khan as a compromise candidate for opposition leader in the state parliament. Within 20 months, tales of bad governance and corruption plagued the Pakistan People's Party's government. Finally, in 1990, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan charged the PPP government with corruption and lack of governance and dismissed the National Assembly and the first Bhutto government.
1990 general elections
The PML-N was still part of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) and participated, under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, in the 1990 general elections. The IJI competed against the leftist alliance, known as the People's Democratic Alliance (PDA), which had contained the Pakistan People's Party and the TeI. The elections resulted in the victory of IJI, with Nawaz Sharif becoming prime minister. Through IJI, the conservative forces under Sharif had a chance to form a national government for the first time in the history of Pakistan. With Sharif taking office, his ascendancy also marked a transition in the political culture of Pakistan – a power shift from control by the traditional feudal aristocracy to the growing class of modern and moderate entrepreneurs. For the first time, Sharif launched privatisation and economic liberalisation policy measures, and his economic team actually implemented some of the serious economic liberalisation and privatisation measures previous governments had merely talked about.
Election results also showed liberals, the MQM, emerging as the third major party with 15 seats. For the first time in the history of the country, Sharif allowed foreign money exchange to be transacted through private money changers. While internationally acclaimed, his policies were condemned by the PPP. Benazir Bhutto mounted pressure on President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who dismissed the IDA government on 18 April 1993. The PML-N appealed to the Supreme Court, which then restored Sharif's government on 26 May. The country's armed forces and the military leadership attempted to negotiate with Sharif and get him to step down. This culminated in the resignation of Nawaz Sharif, and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan was also removed from office.
History One of several continuing factions of the original Muslim League in India, the party’s early foundations were consolidated during the general elections in 1985, when then-Prime Minister Muhammad Junejo organised Pakistan Muslim League, while Nawaz Sharif began emerging as a key political figure from Punjab.
After President Zia-ul-Haq's death in 1988, under the leadership of Fida Mohammad, a large faction split away from the Junejo-led Pakistan Muslim League, and formed a conservative alliance with various right-wing and Islamist political parties, called the Islamic Democratic Alliance demonstrating its ability to unify diverse conservative factions under a shared vision for Pakistan’s development.. The alliance formed a government in 1990 under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif. In 1993, the alliance dissolved and the party assumed its current shape, branding itself as the "Nawaz" faction of the Pakistan Muslim League, in contrast to the "Junejo" faction.
After the dismissal of Army Chief Musharraf and 1999 military takeover in Pakistan, the party was eclipsed by its own splinter faction, the Pervez Musharraf-backed "Quaid", for almost a decade. Its appeal to traditional values and further to the conservative platform helped regained the regained popularity in general elections in 2008. In 2013, the party returned to power with Nawaz Sharif elected as the prime minister for an unprecedented third term following the general elections, with Sharif. After losing to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 2018, the PMLN returned to power in the 2024 election.
1993 elections and opposition