Pakistan Muslim League (Z)

Pakistan Muslim League (Z)
پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ض)
AbbreviationPML-Z
LeaderIjaz-ul-Haq
FoundedOctober 2002 (2002-10)
Split fromPML(N)
HeadquartersBahawalnagar, Punjab, Pakistan
IdeologyZiaism
Political positionRight-wing to far-right[1]
ColorsGreen
 
Senate
0 / 96
National Assembly
1 / 336
Punjab Assembly
1 / 371
Election symbol
Helicopter
Website
www.pmlzia.com

Pakistan Muslim League (Zia),[a] informally referred to as the Zia League,[b] is an Islamist right-wing political party in Pakistan. Named after Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the sixth president of Pakistan, the party is headquartered in Bahawalnagar.

The party was founded in 2002 by Zia's son Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq. With the 2002 general elections, Ijaz won his National Assembly seat and merged with the Pervez Musharraf-endorsed Pakistan Muslim League (Q).[2] It gained the federal religious affairs ministry under Haq. After PML-Q was routed following the general elections of 2008, PML-Z separated from the larger party in February 2010.[citation needed]

In March 2010, PML-Zia successfully contested by-elections held in Bahawalnagar for Member of the Punjab Provincial Assembly, upsetting the Pakistan Peoples Party.[3] During the 2010 Pakistan floods, the party also came to national attention for distributing relief goods worth millions of rupees in Southern Punjab.[4][2]

On 9 October 2011, PML-Zia became the only party to support the PML-N's threat to dissolve the Punjab Assembly and pre-empt the PPP's expected victory in the 2012 Senate elections.[5] In the general elections in 2013, PML-Z contested two seats and won again from NA-191 Bahawalnagar in the National Assembly, and two seats in the Punjab Assembly. Haq's constituency NA-191 recorded the highest voter turnout in the country for 2013.[6]

On 19 March 2023, party leader Ijaz-ul-Haq along with his party members, joined PTI after meeting with Imran Khan. The PML(Z) was also merged into PTI.[7][8] It was later on 29 May, that he denied the rumours of PML-Z getting merged into PTI.[9][10]

Electoral history

National Assembly elections

National Assembly
Election Votes % Seats +/–
2002 78,798 0.27%
1 / 342
 Increase 1
2013 128,510 0.28%
1 / 342
 Increase 1
2018 1,406 0.00%
0 / 342
 Decrease 1

Notes

  1. ^ PML-Z; Urdu: پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ض)
  2. ^ Urdu: ضیاء لیگ

References

  1. ^ Parveen Shaukat Ali (1997). Politics of conviction: the life and times of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. The London Centre for Pakistan Studies. ISBN 978-1-901899-03-0. Zia-ul-Haq became engaged to his cousin (the daughter of his mother's sister), who was eight years younger than he was. Begum Shafiq Zia-ul-Haq was born in 1932 in Uganda, where her father lived. According to the traditional religious custom, it was an arranged marriage and was solemnized on 10 August 1950, in Model Town, Lahore. Shafiq's father had been staying there on a leave of absence from his job in Uganda so that he could marry his two daughters in his own country.
  2. ^ a b "Parties to inform EC about merger with PML". Dawn. 20 May 2004.
  3. ^ "PML-N wins NA-123, PP-82 slots". PakTribune. 11 March 2010.
  4. ^ "PML-Z to distribute relief goods". Pakistan Daily. 11 September 2010. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012.
  5. ^ "PML-N threatens to dissolve Punjab Assembly". Express Tribune. 9 October 2011.
  6. ^ "Pakistan elections 2013 total voter turnout: 55%". Express Tribune. 21 May 2013.
  7. ^ Desk, BR Web (19 March 2023). "PML-Z president Ijaz-ul-Haq joins PTI". Brecorder. Retrieved 19 March 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ "اعجازالحق پی ٹی آئی میں شامل، ضیا لیگ کو بھی ضم کردیا". urdu.geo.tv. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Ijazul Haq denies PML-Z merger with PTI". The Nation. 29 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Rumours of PML-Z's merger with PTI baseless: Ijaz-ul-Haq". 28 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.