page_title: Pakistan Muslim League (N)
section_title: 1997 elections and power politics
hierarchical_section_title: Pakistan Muslim League (N) / History / Electoral history / 1997 elections and power politics
caption_attribution_description: Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen (right) escorts visiting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan.
context_page_description: The Pakistani Muslim League is a centre-right conservative party in Pakistan. It was founded by former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif in 1993. The party's platform is generally conservative, which involves supporting free market capitalism. However, in recent years, the party’s political ideology and platform has shifted more towards liberalism.
  One of several continuing factions of the original Muslim League, the seeds of the party were sown following the 1985 Elections when the Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Khan Junejo organised the supporters of President Zia-ul-Haq's dictatorship into a single party, known as the Pakistan Muslim League. After President Zia's death in 1988, under the leadership of Fida Mohammad Khan, a large faction split away from the Junejo-led Pakistan Muslim League, and formed a conservative alliance with various right-wing and Islamist political parties, called the Islamic Democratic Alliance. The alliance formed a government in 1990 under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif.
context_section_description: The Pakistan Muslim League (N) struck its remarkable, biggest, and most notable achievement in the 1997 parliamentary elections, held on 3 February 1997. It secured a two-thirds majority in the Pakistan Parliament, the only political party to have gained a two-thirds majority since the country's independence in 1947. During this time, the PML-N was the largest conservative party, with its members occupying 137 seats out of 207, roughly 66.2%. In 1997, the party secured its win with an overwhelming mandate, with only a small opposition. On 18 February 1997, when Nawaz Sharif obtained a vote of confidence, the Pakistan Muslim League assumed the government of Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif allowed Benazir Bhutto to hold the office of Leader of the Opposition, though the PML-N held control of the state parliament. The PML-N government passed the Thirteenth and the Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan to stabilize its mandate and strengthen its position.
  In 1998, the law and order situation came under the PML-N's control and economic recovery was also secured. A number of constitutional amendments were made to make the country a parliamentary democracy. In May 1998, the PML-N government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered six nuclear tests, in response to Indian nuclear tests. The tests were extremely popular and PML-N's image and prestige rose to a record level at home. However, in 1998, the PML-N government effectively dismissed general Jehangir Karamat (see Dismissal of General Jehangir Karamat), which ruined its public ratings, but marked a perception of the civilian control of the military. This type of power politics and the repeated dismissals of military leaders soured the party's relations with the Pakistan Armed Forces and its public ratings gradually went down.
  Despite its heavy public mandate, serious disagreements appeared within the party. Finally, the 1999 coup d'état ended the PML-N's government. Controversially, in 1999, the party was significantly divided, further affecting Nawaz Sharif's trial in military court. No massive protests were held by the party; its leaders remained silent and remained supportive towards the military action against Nawaz Sharif. In 2001, the party was further divided by factionalism. Dissenters formed the Pakistan Muslim League, later called Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) (or PML-Q), which became allies of then president Pervez Musharraf. In 2001, the Muslim League (Nawaz) formally adopted the name of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), also known as PML(N).
caption: Nawaz Sharif, the first PML-N Prime Minister.
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