Pakistan People's Party

The Pakistan People's Party (, پاڪستان پيپلز پارٽي; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the second-largest party in the National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded in 1967 in Lahore, when a number of prominent left-wing politicians in the country joined hands against the military rule of president Muhammad Ayub Khan, under the leadership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It is affiliated with the Socialist International. The PPP's platform was formerly socialist, and its stated priorities continue to include transforming Pakistan into a social-democratic state, promoting egalitarian values, establishing social justice, and maintaining a strong military. The party, alongside the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, is one of the three largest political parties of Pakistan. Since its foundation in 1967, it has been a major centre-left force in the country and the party's leadership has been dominated by the members of the Bhutto family. Its centre of power lies in the southern province of Sindh. The People's Party has been voted into power on five separate occasions (1970, 1977, 1988, 1993 and 2008), while on four occasions (1990, 1997, 2002 and 2013) it emerged as the largest opposition party. There have been a total of four prime ministers from the PPP. The PPP dominated the politics of Pakistan during the 1970s, suffering a temporary decline during the military dictatorship of president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. After the re-establishment of democracy in 1988 following Zia's death, a two-party system developed, consisting of the People's Party and the Islamic Democratic Alliance, later succeeded by the Nawaz League. The party served as the principal opposition to the Pervez Musharraf-led military government from 1999 to 2008. The party conceded defeat during the 2013 general election, losing swathes of support in the Punjab Province where most of its base was lost to the emerging PTI, although it retained its provincial government in Sindh.

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Related concepts (18)

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 or the Third India–Pakistan War was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 to 16 December 1971. The official de-jure war began with Pakistan airforce-affiliated Operation Chengiz Khan, which consisted of preemptive aerial strikes on 11 Indian air stations resulting in minor damages and the suspension of counter-air operations for a mere few hours.

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Pakistan Army

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