AWP Launches Campaign Website for 2018 General Elections

The Awami Workers Party has launched a new website — VoteForAWP.org — for its campaign for the upcoming 2018 general elections containing information about our 22 candidates, our election manifesto, party background, election updates and contact information.

In early June, our main website, AwamiWorkersParty.org was arbitrarily blocked by several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Pakistan for no apparent reason, which we have challenged. Since then the main website has been restored on some, but not all websites.

Our electoral manifesto consists of fifteen different policy themes, and include progressive agenda points such as:

  • placing a maximum limit on agricultural land ownership and distributing excess and unutilised private land amongst landless peasants and farmworkers
  • funding low-cost housing schemes and legalising all informal katchi abadi settlements
  • instituting a minimum wage of Rs 30,000 per month
  • instituting a minimum of 33% representation for women in all elected bodies
  • education and health expenditure amounting to at least 10% of the GDP for each, including the the provision of free education up until university level
  • offering immediate subsidies on renewal energy forms and phasing out of coal and other environmentally destructive energy sources.
  • bringing all state institutions under the control of democratic bodies
  • amending all laws that discriminate amongst citizens on the basis of religion, ethnicity or gender
  • establishing peaceful relations with all other countries in the region and the world as equals (Read the full manifesto or a summary in English.)

To this end, we are fielding 21 candidates who will be contesting a total of 22 legislative seats. They consist of 8 national and 14 provincial assembly seats, made up of 14 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four from Sindh, two from Punjab and two from Islamabad Capital Territory. The candidates include AWP federal president Fanoos Gujjar running from NA-9 in Buner, AWP peasants secretary Hassan Askari, running from PS-41 in Sanghar, and AWP deputy secretary general Ismat Raza Shahjahan running from NA-54 in Islamabad.

Please explore the election campaign website to get more information about the campaign, and how you can get involved and support it.