Former Sharif Ally Forms New Party to Change Pakistan’s Politics
- There’s growing anger about government austerity measures
- New party leader and ex-PM Abbasi quit the PML-N in 2023
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi launched a new party on Saturday as part of his fallout with the country’s powerful Sharif clan, amid growing public anger with the government’s austerity measures.
Abbasi, who led the country between 2017 and 2018, unveiled Awam Pakistan, or the People’s Pakistan party, with a group of former members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, or PML-N. The former premier was a PML-N stalwart and an ally of de facto leader Nawaz Sharif for more than three decades until he left the party last year.