Pakistan Muslim League (Urdu

Urdu

Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

: (پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ض) is a right-wing political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 formed in 2002. It is one of the factions of the original Pakistan Muslim League

Pakistan Muslim League

The Pakistan Muslim League was founded in 1962, as a successor to the previously disbanded Muslim League in Pakistan. Unlike the original PML which ended in 1958 when General Ayub Khan banned all political parties, each subsequent Muslim League was in some way propped by the military dictators of...

, named after General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , was the 4th Chief Martial Law Administrator and the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988...

, Pakistan's military dictator

Dictator

A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...

 from 1978 to 1988. It was founded by his son, Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq

Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq

Ch Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq is a prominent Pakistani politician and a businessman who served as a Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Minorities under the Government of Prime minister Shaukat Aziz. A former Pakistan Army officer, Haq joined the Pakistan Army in 1971, as second lieutnenat, but...

, in 2002. With the general elections of 2002

Pakistani general election, 2002

General elections were held in Pakistan on 10 October 2002 during the military regime of Pervez Musharraf.-Parties and candidates:More than 70 parties, contested the election, the main parties were the Peoples Party Parliamentarians, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Group, Muttahida Quami Movement ,...

, the party won 0.3 % of the popular vote and 1 out of 272 elected members, and merged with the Pervez Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...

-endorsed Pakistan Muslim League (Q)

Pakistan Muslim League (Q)

The Pakistan Muslim League or officially Pakistan Muslim League is a centrist, modern political party in Pakistan. The present form of PML-Q was formed prior to 2002 general elections....

. It gained the federal religious affairs ministry

Ministry of Religious Affairs (Pakistan)

The Ministry of Religious Affairs, Zakat, and Ushr in Pakistan is responsible for the pilgrimage beyond Pakistan, Muslims pilgrims visits to India for Ziarat and Saudi Arabia for Umra & Hajj. It is also responsible for the welfare and safety of pilgrims and zairines...

 under Ijaz-ul-Haq. After PML-Q was routed following the general elections of 2008

Pakistani general election, 2008

A general election was held in Pakistan on 18 February 2008, after being postponed from 8 January 2008. The original date was intended to elect members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, the lower house of the Majlis-e-Shoora...

, PML-Z separated from the larger Muslim League party in February 2010.

In March, PML-Zia successfully contested by-elections held in Bahawalnagar

Bahawalnagar

Bahawalnagar is the capital city of Bahawalnagar District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. As well as being district capital it also the administrative headquarters of the tehsil.-Administration:...

 for Member of the Punjab Provincial Assembly

Provincial Assembly of the Punjab

The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the province of Punjab, which is located in Lahore in eastern Pakistan...

, upsetting the Pakistan Peoples Party

Pakistan Peoples Party

The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan...

. During the floods of 2010, the party also came to attention for distributing relief goods worth millions of rupees in Southern Punjab. In July, it seemed PML-Zia and PML-Q would reunite following a meeting between Ijaz and Q-League chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain is a politician from Pakistan who was the Prime Minister of that country from June 30, 2004 until August 28 2004...

, but in November, PML-Z instead 'assimilated' with other Muslim League factions in a loose alliance called Muttahida Muslim League, brokered by senior politicians Pir Pagara and Zafarullah Khan Jamali

Zafarullah Khan Jamali

Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was the 13th Prime Minister of Pakistan and former Chairman of the Pakistan Hockey Federation.-Early life:Born in Baluchistan, Jamali was the second Baluch Prime Minister of Pakistan...

. On December 19 2010, Muttahida Qaumi Movement

Muttahida Qaumi Movement

Muttahida Qaumi Movement generally known as MQM, is a liberal-secular political party of Pakistan. It is generally known as a party which holds immense mobilizing potential in province of Sindh...

 chief Altaf Hussain

Altaf Hussain

Altaf Hussain is the founder and leader of the Muttahida Quami Movement . The MQM emerged as the third largest political party in the national assembly of Pakistan during 1988 and 1990 elections. The MQM secured representation in the parliamentary elections held in the northern areas of Pakistan...

 made contact with Ijaz and both parties' leaders agreed to convene a round-table conference of political parties to cope with national challenges.

On October 9 2011, PML-Zia became the only party to support the PML-N's threatening to dissolve the Punjab Assembly and pre-empt the PPP's expected victory in the 2012 Senate

Senate of Pakistan

The Senate of Pakistan is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan. Elections are held every three years for one half of the senate and each senator has a term of six years...

elections.