The Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (; ), abbreviated as PMAP or PKMAP, is a political party in Pakistan's

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. It was founded by

Mahmood Khan Achakzai Mahmud Khan Achakzai (; born 14 December 1948) is a Pakistani Pashtun regionalist politician who is the Chairman of Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. Achakzai completed his Engineering degree from the Peshawar University of Engineering and Technol ...

, who was elected as the chairman, and

Sher Ali Bacha Sher Ali Bacha (), commonly known as Bachajee (), was a Pakistani communist politician, Pashto language poet and human rights activist. He was one of the founding members of the Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP) and the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party ( ...

, who served as the General Secretary, in March 1989 in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

. The party was a coalition partner of the

PML-N The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right, Conservatism in Pakistan, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate of Pakistan, Senate and the larges ...

in the Balochistan government following the 2013 elections and stood by the PML-N during some of the latter's most challenging times in government.

Ideology

PkMAP has opposed the merger of

Federally Administered Tribal Areas The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from 1947 until being merged with the neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018 through the ...

with

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

and has been widely criticized for the position. Its chief

Mehmood Khan Achakzai Mahmud Khan Achakzai (; born 14 December 1948) is a Pakistani Pashtun regionalist politician who is the Chairman of Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. Achakzai completed his Engineering degree from the Peshawar University of Engineering and Technol ...

has previously suggested that

FATA The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a autonomous administrative division, semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from Independence Day (Pakistan), 1947 until being merged with the ...

should be governed either by a governor or a council that should be elected through adult franchise. PkMAP chief Achakzai has also called for the creation of a province for Pakhtuns living in areas from the Pak-Afghan border to Mianwali in Pakistan.

Electoral history

In the 2018 elections, the party could not secure a single seat in the National Assembly but was able to win one seat in the Balochistan assembly. In the 2013 Pakistan general and provincial elections, the party won three general seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and 10 in the Balochistan Assembly. In 2002, PkMAP secured one NA seat and three provincial assembly seats. The party won two provincial seats in the 1997 polls. It won three NA seats and four provincial seats in 1993. Prior to this, in the 1990 elections, PkMAP won three provincial assembly seats. In the 2024 Pakistani general elections, the party managed to win one seat in the

, but did not win a single seat in the Balochistan Assembly. Backed by the PTI, the leader of PKMAP,

Achakzai The Achakzai or Achekzai (; ) are a Durrani Pashtun tribe that resides on both sides of the Durand Line, centered on Killa Abdullah District in Pakistan with some clans as far away as Afghanistan's Kandahar Province as well as Firuzkuh in Ir ...

, ran for president against

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the ...

from the PPP, whom he lost against, only securing 181 electoral votes compared to Zardari's 411 electoral votes.

References

External links

* Democratic socialist parties in Asia Member parties of the Pakistan Democratic Movement Pashtun nationalism Pashtun politics Political parties in Pakistan Secularism in Pakistan Socialist parties in Pakistan {{Pakistan-party-stub Political parties of minorities in Pakistan