Awami National Party (Pakistan).

Summary: The Awami National Party (ANP), despite its middle name, is primarily a party representing ethnic Pashtuns - the same ethnic group from northern Pakistan that comprises the Pakistan Taliban. It is the heir of a succession of groups dating from the early twentieth-century movement for independence from Britain. The ANP's leaders traditionally opposed organizing a separate state from British India based on religion. During the 1950s, some members of the banned Pakistan Communist Party joined ANP's predecessor, the National Awami Party, which was viewed as a front for communists and opposed to Pakistan's long-time Cold War alliance with the United States. ANP was formally organized in 1986 as an alliance of several smaller left-wing parties. In 2009, ANP scored its best showing in parliamentary elections, sending thirteen members to the Parliament in Islamabad and joining the ruling national coalition. The party also took the lead in the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (before 2010, North-West Frontier Province). ANP remained a dominant political party until 2013 when they lost their majority to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Isaf. Attempts to reassert their power where thwarted during the 2018 elections when ANP’s Assembly candidate was killed by a suicide bombing at a political rally.