The Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) (,

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

: PMLF, PML-F, PML (F)) is a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and pro- Hurs clan

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It is one of the breakaway groups of Pakistan Muslim League. The letter 'F' in its name stands for ''functional''. It is primarily associated with the Sindhi religious leader Pir Pagaro.

Leadership of a united Pakistan Muslim League (1973–1978)

In 1973, PML-Council man and powerful Sindhi landlord, Pir Pagaro VII(also known as Syed Shah Mardan Shah-II), managed to merge the PML-Council and PML-Convention to form the PML. The party was backed by industrialists and the business community and it stood against the PPP regime's nationalisation policies. It was a revival of the PML factions in disarray.

Pakistan National Alliance and General Zia

Pir Pagaro VII became the head of this political party. He remained the chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, and spiritual leader of the Hurs. In 1976, PMLF joined the 9-party anti

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

electoral alliance, the

Pakistan National Alliance The Pakistan National Alliance (Urdu: پاکستان قومی اتحاد, Acronym: PNA), was a populist and consolidated right and left political alliance, consisting of nine political parties of the country. Formed in 1977, the country's leadi ...

, which also included the country’s three largest islamic parties, the

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (, abbreviated as JUI, translated as Assembly of Islamic Clergy) is a Deobandi Sunni Muslim organization that was founded on 26 October 1945 by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani as a pro-Pakistan offshoot of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH ...

Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) () is an Islamist political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1948 by leaders of All India Sunni Conference. The JUP exercised considerable political influence in Pakistani politics during the 1970s to 2003. Its st ...

and the

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist fundamentalist movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamist author and theorist Syed Abul Ala Maududi, who was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. It is considered one of the most influential Isla ...

. On July 4, 1977 taking advantage of the chaos and uncertainty due to mass protests caused by allegations of rigging,

General Zia Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of ...

initiated a coup d'etat codenamed

Operation Fairplay The 1977 Pakistani military coup (codenamed Operation Fair Play) was the second military coup in the history of Pakistan. Taking place on 5 July 1977, it was carried out by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the chief of army staff, overthrowing the gover ...

, he took over the country and imposed martial law. In 1978 he banned all political parties and the PML-F even though it had welcomed the coup was banned. Zia also helped form a unified

Pakistan Muslim League The Pakistan Muslim League (; known as PML), is the name of several different Pakistani political parties that have dominated the centre-right platform in the country. The ''Muslim League'' (the original successor of the All-India Muslim ...

in 1985 after the ban on the political parties was lifted.

Split with Pakistan Muslim League

In 1985 the party split from the united

(which was established in general Zia-ul-Haq's rule) when the Pakistani establishment decided to make

Muhammad Khan Junejo Mohammad Khan Junejo (18 August 1932 18 March 1993) was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1985 to 1988 under president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. During his tenure as prime minister he sou ...

the president of united PML. In response, Pir Pagara Syed Shah Mardan Shah-II parted ways with the mother league and formed his own party.

2000 to present

Pir Pagaro VII (2000 – 2012)

In the

2002 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 10 October 2002 to elect the 12th National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies. The elections were held under the military government of Pervez Musharraf. The two mainstream parties, Pakistan ...

, the party won 1.1% of the popular vote and four out of 272 elected members. In May 2004, PML (Functional) merged with PML (Q) along with other parties to form the united PML. However, after two months in July 2004, Pir Pagara and the PML (F) parted ways with the united PML citing differences with the Chaudhry brothers and calling the PML, the Jatt league. In the

2008 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 18 February 2008 to elect members of the 13th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. On 3 November 2007 President Pervez Musharraf enacted a state of emergency; elections were initia ...

, the PML-F won four seats, and were given one reserved women's seat raising to their total to five National Assembly seats. Additionally, the party won eight provincial assembly seats in Sindh and three in Punjab. In September 2010 the Pakistan Muslim League (F) and

PML-Q The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronym and initialism, Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League" (officially registered as the Pakistan Muslim League) is a political party in Pakistan. As of ...

united, forming the All Pakistan Muslim League (Pir Pagara).

Pir Pagaro VIII (11 January 2012 – present)

In January 2012 after the death of 7th Pir Pagara Syed Shah Mardan Shah-II his eldest son Syed Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi III the 8th Pir Pagara became the President of Pakistan Muslim League (F). The Headquarters of PML (F) was then shifted to Raja House from Kingri House. In the

2013 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Saturday 11 May 2013 to elect the members of the List of members of the 14th National Assembly of Pakistan, 14th National Assembly of Pakistan, National Assembly and the four Subdivisions of Pakistan, Pr ...

, PML-F won 6 seats in National Assembly and 10 seats in

Provincial Assembly of Sindh The Provincial Assembly of Sindh is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Sindh, and is located in Karachi, its provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of Pakis ...

, PML (F) joined the government of

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...

. Pirzada Sadaruddin Shah Rashdi, younger brother of Syed Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi III, of Pakistan Muslim League (F) was made the Minister of Overseas Pakistanis. on 23 October 2017 PML -F became one of the founding members of the

Grand Democratic Alliance The Grand Democratic Alliance (; ) is a Regionalism (politics), regional political coalition of seven Sindh-based political parties. It was founded on 23 October 2017 by the Sindh-based Regionalism (politics), regional political parties along with ...

that was formed by

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

-based political parties along with some dissident politicians to challenge the

in the province. For the

2018 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 25 July 2018 to elect the members of the 15th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties were Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by Imran Khan, the Pakistan Muslim ...

, PML-F led a new coalition named

with

Awami Tahreek Awami Tahreek or Qaumi Awami Tehreek, formerly Sindhi Awami Tahreek (), is a Marxist–Leninist–Maoist political party based in the Pakistani province of Sindh, and headquartered in Hyderabad. Formation Awami Tahreek was formed on 5 March 1 ...

, National Peoples Party, Pakistan Peoples Party Workers and

Pakistan Peoples Muslim League The Pakistan Peoples Muslim League (PPML), formerly known as the Pakistan Muslim League (Like-Minded) and abbreviated as PML (LM), was a political party in Pakistan led by former Chief Minister of Sindh Arbab Ghulam Rahim. The party was a break ...

. In the

2024 Pakistani general election General elections, originally scheduled to be held in 2023, were held in Pakistan on 8 February 2024 to elect the members of the List of members of the 16th National Assembly of Pakistan, 16th National Assembly of Pakistan, National Assembly. The ...

the GDA headed by the PMLF continued its alliance with the

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a political party in Pakistan established in 1996 by cricketer and politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The party is led by Gohar Ali Khan since late 2023. ...

however it suffered many losses and significantly undperformed. After the 2024 election

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * M ...

's (Member of Provincial Assembly) of GDA forfeited their seats in the Sindh Provincial Assembly in protest of rigging.

Electoral history

National Assembly elections

Provincial Assembly of Sindh

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakistan Muslim League (F) Political parties in Pakistan Muslim League breakaway groups P National conservative parties Pakistani nationalism Centrist parties in Asia Grand Democratic Alliance