Awaam Pakistan

Awaam Pakistan (, lit. 'People of Pakistan', abbr. AP) is a political party in Pakistan that was established in 2024 by former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Miftah Ismail, both of whom had left and the anti-Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N)). It is yet to be registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The formal launching ceremony of the party was held on 9 May 2024 in Islamabad.

History
On 3 January 2023, Maryam Nawaz, daughter of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif, was appointed as senior vice president of the PML-N, making her one of the PML-N’s senior-most leaders. Numerous senior leaders within PML-N expressed regret and displeasure over the lack of consultation preceding Maryam's appointment, which positioned her as the second most senior figure in the party, following her leaving uncle Shehbaz Sharif. Following this, former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and a leader of PML-N, resigned as senior vice president of PML-N within an hour of the announcement of Maryam's promotion saying "Maryam needs space, if we are there, there will be disagreement, which is not suitable for anyone." He later quit PML-N in December 2023. In an interview, Abbasi said his “stature in the PML-N is equal to that of Shehbaz Sharif and working under Maryam is not acceptable to him at all. He takes it as his insult.". Similarly, another leader of PML-N, Miftah Ismail, also announced to quit PML-N following his removal from his position as Federal Minister of Finance by Maryam.

The party was founded on June 2024 by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and Miftah Ismail, the former Minister of Finance. Prior to forming AP, Abbasi was a senior leader of the PML-N. He had left his former party on 16 December 2023, later citing his endorsement of the ووٹ کو عزت دو (lit. 'Honour the vote') narrative, which he claimed the PML-N had abandoned after Nawaz Sharif had returned from self-imposed exile. On the other hand, Miftah Ismail had left the PML-N on 25 June 2023, saying he was "not interested in active politics anymore".

Later developments towards the creation of a new political party came in the form of the "Reimagining Pakistan" seminars, organized by Miftah Ismail and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in various cities across Pakistan. The seminars also included figures like Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, previous associated with the Pakistan People's Party, who did not, however, join Awaam Pakistan owing to disagreements concerning the party's launch date and its conflict with the Islamabad High Court's ruling concerning the results of Khokhar's electoral constituency in NA-47.

On 21 June 2024, after months of speculation, a video was posted on the Twitter account of Awaam Pakistan, which featured a series of people asking questions about multiple national issues. The video featured the tagline 'عوام پاکستان: ووٹ کو عزت دو ' (lit. 'People of Pakistan: We will change the system').

On 6 July 2024, the party's formal launching ceremony was held in Islamabad. It was also announced that Abbasi had been elected as the convener of the party while Ismail was elected as the secretary during intra-party elections on 19 June. The ceremony was also attended by Mehtab Abbasi, Zaeem Qadri, and Zafar Mirza. They also announced that a formal outline of the party's goals and policies would be published in the coming weeks.

Ideology
During the formal launching ceremony on 6 July 2024, Abbasi was asked of AP's ideology. He answered that the "concept of left and right has died in Pakistan" and that their ideology would be "helping the people of Pakistan and taking responsibility for them".

In an interview with Arab News, Ismail commented on the economic policy of the party, stating the need to "extend tax concessions to middle-income and salaried classes, focus on privatization, limit the government’s footprint by encouraging the private sector and privatize the public organizations".