Awami Workers Party

The Awami Workers Party or People's Workers Party (Urdu: عوامی ورکرز پارٹی‎) is a political party in Pakistan.[1] The party is attempting to unify the struggles of workers, peasants, students, women and ethnic and religious minorities in Pakistan under the banner of a democratic and socialist political system. After the death of founding leader of AWP Fanoos Gujjar,[2] Senior Vice President Yousuf Mastikhan became AWP president.

Awami Workers' Party

عوامی ورکرز پارٹی
AbbreviationAWP
PresidentYousuf Mastikhan
General SecretaryAkhtar Hussain
Vice PresidentAbida Chaudhry
Deputy General SecretaryIsmat Shahjahan
Finance SecretaryShazia Khan
Information SecretaryFarman Ali
FoundedNovember 2012
Merger ofLabour Party Pakistan
National Workers Party
Awami Party Pakistan
HeadquartersKarachi
IdeologyDemocratic socialism
Progressivism
Anti-fascism
Political positionLeft-wing
ColorsRed, White
Senate
0 / 104
National Assembly
0 / 342
Election symbol
Party flag
Website
www.awamiworkersparty.org

History

The party was formed in November 2012, as a merger of the Labour Party, the Awami Party and the Workers Party. While not the first attempt to unify the Left, the AWP generated excitement among progressives due to its promise of building upon the left's best traditions and making adaptations necessary for a viable project.[3]

The party held its First Congress on Sept 27–28, 2014 and elected its national leadership following sub-national party elections around the country. Abid Hassan Minto was elected president, Fanoos Gujjar chairman and Farooq Tariq general secretary.[4]

General elections 2013

In the 2013 Pakistani general election the party received 18,650 votes or 0.04% of the national share.

Gilgit-Baltistan

AWP took part in the 2015 elections. Baba Jan was AWP's candidate in GBLA-6 constituency. Jan came second to PMLN's Mir Gazanfar Ali. New elections in GBLA-6 were expected to be held in September 2016 after the seat became vacant on Mir Gazanfar's appointment as Governor.

Blocking of Party's Website

AWP website was blocked on June 3, 2018. On February 18, 2019, AWP filed a petition in Islamabad High Court against censorship of its website by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.[5][6]

General Elections 2018

In the 2018 Pakistani general election, AWP received 35,870 votes.[7] In July, 2018, at the Karachi Press Club, secretary general, advocate Akhtar Hussain, and senior vice president Yousuf Mustikhan, issued the party’s 10-point agenda as their manifesto. The main focus of manifesto was abolishing the medieval tribal and feudal system in the country.[8]

Departure of LPP

In October 2019, the Labour Party announced its resignation from the AWP. LPP leader and former AWP General Secretary Farooq Tariq alleged that his group was being "witch-hunted" in the party, and said that the party had been reluctant to work with farmers', workers' and democratic movements, or to campaign for the release of political prisoner Baba Jan, a leading AWP member.[9]

Jalila Haider, one of the political worker of Awami Workers Party and provincial president of its sister organization Women Democratic Front[10][11] from Quetta, Balochistan was named in the 100 Women (BBC) in 2019 which is a list about inspiring and influential women compiled by BBC.[12][13]

See also

References
  1. "Pakistan elections 2018: The major political parties". www.aljazeera.com.
  2. Correspondent, The Newspaper's (2 December 2018). "AWP chairman Fanoos Gujjar passes away". DAWN.COM.
  3. Our correspondent. "Awami Workers Party: Interim leaders elected for new party". The Express Tribune Pakistan. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  4. "Awami Workers Party: Interim leaders elected for new left party". The Express Tribune. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  5. "Blocking websites unlawfully". DAWN.COM. 24 September 2019.
  6. Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (19 February 2019). "IHC issues notice to PTA for blocking political party's website". DAWN.COM.
  7. "ECP - Election Commission of Pakistan". www.ecp.gov.pk.
  8. Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (10 July 2018). "Awami Workers Party unveils election manifesto". DAWN.COM.
  9. "Fissures in AWP". Dawn. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  10. "Leadership". Women Democratic Front. Archived from the original on 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  11. "Azaranica: Women Democratic Front's Jalila Haider announced indefinite hunger strike against the on-going target killings of Hazaras in Quetta". Azaranica. 28 April 2018. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  12. "BBC 100 Women 2019: Who is on the list?". 16 October 2019.
  13. "Hazara woman from Pakistan named in BBC's 100 Women of 2019". www.geo.tv.
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