Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party

The Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (Pashto: پښتونخوا ملي عوامي ګوند; Urdu: پشتونخوا ملی عوامی پارٹی), abbreviated as PMAP or PKMAP, is a political party in Pakistan's Balochistan province. It was founded by Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who was elected as the chairman, and Sher Ali Bacha, who served as the General Secretary, in March 1989 in Quetta.^[13]

Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party پښتونخوا ملي عوامي ګوند
Abbreviation	PMAP PKMAP
Leader	Mahmood Khan Achakzai
Founders	Mahmood Khan Achakzai Sher Ali Bacha[1]
Founded	1989; 36 years ago (1989)[2]
Succeeded by	PNAP[3]
Student wing	Pashtunkhwa Students Organization (PSO)
Ideology	Pashtun nationalism[4] (Left-wing nationalism) Social egalitarianism[5] Democratic socialism[6] Federalism[7] Economic egalitarianism[8] Social democracy Progressivism Secularism Regionalism Left-wing populism[9]
Political position	Centre-left[10] to Left-wing[9]
National affiliation	TTAP[11] PONM[12][9]
International affiliation	UNPO ILPS [citation needed]
Colors	orange-red
Senate	0 / 100
National Assembly	1 / 336
Election symbol
Tree
Party flag
Website
Official website
Politics of Pakistan Political parties Elections

The party was a coalition partner of the PML-N 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.^[2][14]

Ideology

PkMAP has opposed the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and has been widely criticized^{[by whom?]} for the position. Its chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai has previously suggested that FATA 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.^[15][16]

Electoral history

PKMAP leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai

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 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.^{[17][18][19][20]}

In the 2024 Pakistani general elections, the party managed to win one seat in the National Assembly, but did not win a single seat in the Balochistan Assembly. Backed by the PTI, the leader of PKMAP, Achakzai, ran for president against Asif Ali Zardari from the PPP, whom he lost against, only securing 181 electoral votes compared to Zardari's 411 electoral votes.^[21]