What's the name of Miftah Ismail's new political party?

Putting all speculations to rest, the former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Miftah Ismail has announced to form a new political party.

Miftah announced the new party in an editorial in a private publication and shared that on X.

In an interview with Geo News, Miftah unveiled the name of a senior political leader, including Sardar Mehtab Abbasi, Zaeem Qadri, Javed Abbasi, and Zafar Mirza, and several political leaders and members of civil society would be a part of his political party.

The former finance czar added that he did not claim that the party would become popular immediately, but he knew how to advertise the party, as he was a part of the government.

Miftah Ismail and colleagues will apply for party registration on Thursday and the name of his new party would be unveiled on the same day.

The news has been surrounding for some time that PML-N and PPP dissidents will make new avenues in the political landscape of Pakistan.

In an opinion piece, he said that the party would be different from the trending political parties in Pakistan. 

"[...] a party based on ideas and not personalities, a party that has professionals of integrity, competence and intellectual honesty, a party that belongs not to a province or a city but to the whole nation, a party that will constitutionally mandate term limits for its leaders, be internally democratic, and would never consider any individual or family to be indispensable," he said in his article.

“We want to present to our people a new vision of Pakistan, a nation focused on its people – especially the young.”

Moreover, he penned, “I am sorry to say they [political parties] lack both the courage and the competence to change the course of this country.”

Miftah Ismail has a short but impressive political background. Following the nomination of Ishaq Dar in Panama Papers, Ismail emerged on the political screen as finance minister.

In 2018, he also contested the election at PML-N ticket from NA-244 against PTI’s Ali Zaidi and remained unsuccessful.

Aside from this, he holds a doctorate in public finance from the prestigious Wharton School and also worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The differences between Miftah and PML-N first appeared in 2022, when the Shehbaz-led coalition government replaced him with Ishaq Dar.

In June 2023, he stepped back as the general secretary of the party.