Pakistan Muslim League (N)

For other uses, see Muslim League (disambiguation).

Pakistan Muslim League (N)
پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن)
ن لیگ
AbbreviationPML(N)
PresidentNawaz Sharif
ChairmanRaja Zafar-ul-Haq[1]
Secretary-GeneralAhsan Iqbal
SpokespersonMarriyum Aurangzeb
Vice PresidentMaryam Nawaz
Leader in SenateIshaq Dar
Leader in AssemblyShehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan
FounderNawaz Sharif
Founded18 July 1992; 32 years ago (1992-07-18)
Split fromPML(J)
Preceded byIJI
Headquarters180-H Model Town, Lahore, Punjab
Student wingMuslim Student Federation[2]
Youth wingPML-N Youth Wing
Sher Jawan Movement[3]
Women's wingPML-N Women Wing
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right to right-wing[16]
National affiliationPakistan Democratic Movement
Colors  Green
Senate
19 / 100
National Assembly
111 / 336
Punjab Assembly
206 / 371
Sindh Assembly
0 / 168
KPK Assembly
9 / 145
Balochistan Assembly
17 / 65
Azad Kashmir Assembly
8 / 53
Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly 
3 / 33
Election symbol
Lion
Lion
Party flag
Website
Party website
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Nawaz Sharif

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The Pakistan Muslim League (N) abbreviated as PML (N), (Urdu: پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن)) is a centre-right, conservative liberal[7][8] political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate and the largest in the National Assembly . The party was founded in 1993, when a number of prominent conservative politicians in the country joined hands after the dissolution of Islamic Democratic Alliance, under the leadership of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The party's platform is generally conservative,[17] which involves supporting free markets,[18] deregulation,[19] lower taxes[20] and private ownership.[21] Although the party historically supported social conservatism, in recent years, the party's political ideology and platform has become more liberal on social and cultural issues; however, members have been accused of using Islamist populist rhetoric.[22][23] Alongside the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP), it is one of the three major political parties of the country.

One of several continuing factions of the original Muslim League,[24] the seeds of the party were sown following the 1985 elections when the Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Khan Junejo organised the supporters of President Zia-ul-Haq's dictatorship into a single party, known as the Pakistan Muslim League. After President Zia-ul-Haq's death in 1988, under the leadership of Fida Mohammad Khan, 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. 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 its foundation, the PML-N, along with the People's Party, dominated the two-party political system of Pakistan.[25] However, after the 1999 coup, the party was eclipsed by its own splinter faction, the Musharraf-backed Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid), for almost a decade. PML-N regained popularity in the 2008 general elections, when it was elected as the principal opposition party. It returned to power following the elections of 2013, with Sharif elected as the prime minister for an unprecedented third term. The party, however, faced a major setback following the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2017. The situation was worsened when Sharif and his daughter Maryam were sentenced to imprisonment on charges of corruption; however, their respective sentences were later suspended.[26]

The party lost both the center and provincial government of its stronghold Punjab,[citation needed] to PTI in the 2018 elections. In 2024, General Elections, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz emerged as the largest party in Punjab with 193 members in the Provincial Assembly, and also largest in the Center. Maryam Nawaz (daughter of Former PM Nawaz Sharif) became the first female Chief Minister of Punjab.

  1. ^ "Raja Zafarul Haq meets Senate chairman". The News International (newspaper). 18 July 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Political parties in Pakistan: Roots, fruit & juice". DAWN. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  3. ^ "PML-N to launch 'Sher Jawan' movement today". The Nation (newspaper). 10 November 2020.
  4. ^ Col Y Udaya Chandar (Retd), ed. (2018). Independent India s All the Seven Wars. Notion Press. ISBN 9781948473224. ... Over the next decade, she alternated power with the conservative Pakistan Muslim League-N(PML(N)) led by Nawaz Sharif, as the country's political and economic situation deteriorated. ...
  5. ^ "Is PML-N The Most Liberal Regime Pakistan Has Seen In Recent Times?". The Express Tribune. 5 January 2017.
  6. ^ [4][5]
  7. ^ a b Boone, Jon (17 May 2013). "Nawaz Sharif: rightwing tycoon who has won over liberals – for now". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Nawaz Sharif the liberal? – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  9. ^ [7][8]
  10. ^ "Explainer: Pakistan's main political parties". Al-Jazeera. 6 May 2013.
  11. ^ "Is PML-N trying to fool everyone under its centrist garb?". 28 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Sharif declares victory for his party in Pakistan vote". Hindustan Times. 12 May 2013. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017.
  13. ^ Nawaz Sharif declares his party victorious in Pakistan vote, Al Arabiya, 11 May 2013, archived from the original on 12 May 2013
  14. ^ "Nawaz Sharif Set for Third Term as PM", India Times, 12 May 2013, archived from the original on 12 May 2013
  15. ^ Vineeta Yadav, ed. (2021). Religious Parties and the Politics of Civil Liberties. Oxford University Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-19-754538-6. ... Instead, it has formed postelection coalitions with the center-left Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the center-right PML-N party to enter government. ...
  16. ^ [11][12][13][14][15]
  17. ^ Haleem, Safia (2013). "The Struggle for Power" (google books). Culture Smart! Pakistan. London: Kuperard. ISBN 978-1857336788.
  18. ^ "Nawaz Sharif selects his 25-member cabinet". Country.eiu.com. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Revisiting Nawaz Sharif I, II & III: A mixed legacy". 6 August 2017.
  20. ^ "Agricultural and Rural Development". pmln.org. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Privatisation and the PML-N – Business Recorder".
  22. ^ Yilmaz, Ihsan; Saleem, Raja M. Ali (8 April 2021). "A Quest for Identity: The Case of Religious Populism in Pakistan". European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS). Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. In opposition to the PPP, PML-N members frequently "otherized" Bhutto by using Islamist populism.
  23. ^ "Nawaz Sharif defies clerics". Washington Post.
  24. ^ "Past Electorals". Past Electorals. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  25. ^ "National Assembly general election results 1988–1997" (PDF). Pakistan Election Commission. Election Commission of Pakistan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2017.
  26. ^ "Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar released from Adiala jail after IHC suspends Avenfield sentences". Dawn (newspaper). 19 September 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2022.