SUBJECT: POLITICAL SCIENCE VI COURSE: BA LLB SEMESTER VI TEACHER: MS. DEEPIKA GAHATRAJ MODULE II, PAKISTAN PARTY SYSTEM (PART 2) (iii). Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is the leading opposition party in the outgoing Pakistani parliament and is considered by many to be the frontrunner in the 2013 polls. A centre-right, fiscally and socially conservative party, the PML-N draws its strength from Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province. The party won 91 seats in the National Assembly in the last elections, and also led the provincial government in Punjab, with Shahbaz Sharif, Nawaz's brother, serving as chief minister. The Sharifs draw their wealth from running a number of industries - primarily steel mills - and much of their support comes from influential industrialists and agriculturalists in both rural and urban areas of Punjab. Like most other major political parties in Pakistan, it is heavily reliant on kinship and patronage networks for votes. Nawaz, the elder Sharif, first rose to prominence under General Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan's military dictator from 1977-88, and in the following years, his party emerged as the primary opposition to Benazir Bhutto's PPP. The two parties spent the 1990s trading places in government, with neither completing a full term, until Nawaz's government was ousted in 1999 by then-army chief Pervez Musharraf, who appointed himself leader of the country. Nawaz spent the next seven years in self-imposed exile, under an agreement with Musharraf's government, returning in 2007 to lead his party's campaign in the 2008 general election (even though he did not himself run for office that year). He regained political prominence by supporting the Lawyers Movement against Musharraf, and his party easily swept into power in Punjab and, with a strong showing in the province, also re-established itself in the National Assembly. The party's manifesto for the 2013 election focuses on spurring economic growth from its current level of around three percent to six percent, primarily by increasing investment levels and launching large-scale public infrastructure projects. (iv) The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) was the third-largest party in the 2008-2013 parliament, with 54 seats in the National Assembly. The PML-Q began its time in the opposition, but by the end of the last government's term it had switched to the Treasury benches, helping the PPP to maintain its coalition and being rewarded with leadership positions for Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, a senior PML-Q leader, and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the PML-Q's president. Formed in 2002, the PML-Q is a centre-right party drawn primarily from defectors from the rival PML-N who chose to support General Pervez Musharraf in the aftermath of his coup against the democratically elected government. The party led the government under Musharraf, with members Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Shaukat Aziz all serving as prime ministers under Musharraf's presidency. The 2008 elections, occurring in the midst of mass anti-Musharraf sentiment, a spiralling inflation rate and failing economic policies, saw the PML-Q defeated in many constituencies in favour of PML-N and PPP candidates. It held on to key constituencies in its stronghold of Punjab, however, and remained a force in parliament, whether in opposition or government. In 2013, the PML-Q will once again be focusing on Punjab and Balochistan provinces, where it has had strong showings in the past. The party is not expected to be able to form a government on its own, but would be a key player in terms of building a coalition for whichever party emerges as the leader after the polls. .