The Labour Party Pakistan ( ur, لیبر پارٹی پاکستان, LPP) was a
far-left
Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
and a leading labor union, closely allying associating with
Fourth International
The Fourth International (FI) is a revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global capitalism and the establishment of wor ...
.
It claimed membership of 7,300 members in 2009. It originates from the
Trotskyist
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...
tradition. Its founders were students in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
who came into contact with the
Committee for a Workers' International
The Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) was an international association of Trotskyist political parties. Today, two groups claim to be the continuation of the CWI.
History Founding
The origins of the CWI can be traced to a group of ...
and were recruited to that body in 1980. They returned to
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
in 1986 and began carrying out entry work in the
Pakistan Peoples Party
The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...
as The Struggle. From 1991 some members split from The Struggle and operated as an open group and in 1995 they became the Jeddojuh Inqilabi Tehrik (JIT) or Struggle Revolutionary Movement. This was in opposition to the advice of the CWI. This was with a membership of 70 militants which grew to 740 by 1997 when the LPP was launched. The LPP was expelled from the CWI after accepting funds from NGOs.
The rest of The Struggle continued as a section of the
International Marxist Tendency
The International Marxist Tendency (IMT) is an international Trotskyism, Trotskyist Political international, political tendency founded by Ted Grant and his supporters following their break with the Committee for a Workers' International (1974) ...
until
Lal Khan
Lal Khan ( ur, لال خان; June 1956 – 21 February 2020) was a political activist and Marxist political theorist.
Born Tanveer Gondal, he was a physician by profession but ceased practicing medicine in order to devote his time to politic ...
was expelled in 2016 over differences on entryism inside PPP.
The LPP is close to groupings such as the
Scottish Socialist Party
The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pàrtaidh Sòisealach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Socialist Pairtie) is a left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an independent socialist Scotland.
The party was founded in 1998. It c ...
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. In March 2005, it obtained permanent observer status in the
reunified Fourth International
The Fourth International (FI), founded in 1938, is a Trotskyist international. In 1963, following a ten-year schism, the majorities of the two public factions of the Fourth International, the International Secretariat and the International C ...
.
The party is led by its 30-year-old chairman
Nisar Shah
The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is a joint project between NASA and ISRO to co-develop and launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar on an Earth observation satellite. The satellite will be the first radar imaging ...
. The General Secretary is
Farooq Tariq
Farooq (also transliterated as Farouk, Faruqi, Farook, Faruk, Faroeq, Faruq, or Farouq, Farooqi, Faruque or Farooqui; ar, فاروق, Fārūq) is a common Arabic given and family name. ''Al-Fārūq'' literally means "the one who distinguishes b ...
. Supporters of the party publish a weekly paper in
Workers Party Pakistan
The Workers Party Pakistan ( ur, ورکرز پارٹی پاکستان ) was a left-wing political party in Pakistan formed in March, 2010 by the merger of National Workers Party Pakistan, Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party, Peoples Rights Movement P ...
, forming a new
Awami Workers Party
The Awami Workers Party ( ur, عوامی ورکرز پارٹی) is a left-wing socialist political party in Pakistan. The party seeks to unify the struggles of workers, peasants, students, women and ethnic and religious minorities in Pakistan und ...
. The new party's aims would include a break with multinational capital and imperialism, the end of feudalism, establishment of a democratic federal system and improving relations with neighbouring states. The LPP dissolved on 10 November 2012, and Farooq Tariq was elected general secretary of the AWP. In 2018, the party merged with the
Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party
The Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party ( ur, کمیونسٹ مزدور کسان پارٹی, ) was a minor political party in Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South ...
Awami Workers Party
The Awami Workers Party ( ur, عوامی ورکرز پارٹی) is a left-wing socialist political party in Pakistan. The party seeks to unify the struggles of workers, peasants, students, women and ethnic and religious minorities in Pakistan und ...
. In October 2019, the LPP announced its resignation from the AWP. Farooq Tariq alleged that the 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.