Political party in Pakistan
The Grand Democratic Alliance (Urdu: گرانڈ جمہوری اتحاد; Sindhi: گرانڊ ڊيموڪريٽڪ الائينس) is a regional political alliance based in Sindh, Pakistan. It was founded on 23 October 2017 as a political movement against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government in Sindh, accusing it of poor governance, fascism and corruption. The alliance claims that the people of Sindh are unhappy with the PPP government.[9]
History
On 23 October 2007, Grand Democratic Alliance was formed in Sindh, Pakistan. On 26 November 2017, the leaders of the GDA participated in GDA's first official meeting to be held in Sukkur on November 26.[10][11] The alliance was formed to defeat the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the Sindh province, which is considered a stronghold of the PPP. The alliance has been seen as a major challenger to the PPP in the 2018 elections.[12][13] The GDA opposed the feudalist system in Sindh, Which is openly supported by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) it has supported the anti-feudal elements against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Sindh along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).[14]
During political unrest in Pakistan following the ousting of Imran Khan in 2022, the GDA leadership including the alliance head, Pir of Pagaro VIII issued statements supporting Imran Khan, mainly during the 2024 election.[15][16][17]
2018 general elections
For the 2018 Pakistani general election, the GDA joined hands with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf by forming seat adjustments in more than ten seats with the aim of defeating the PPP. As a result of the election, the GDA won 14 seats in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh, three seats in the National Assembly and garnered almost 15% of the vote in Sindh.[18][19]
2024 general elections
In the 2024 Pakistani general election, the GDA continued its alliance with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf during despite crackdown on the party.[20][21] The GDA ran against PPP candidates in several constituencies, but unlike the 2018 election, the GDA did not win many seats and a much lesser number of 2 Sindhi provincial seats were won by the GDA.[22] The elections countrywide and in Sindh were plagued with allegations of rigging in favor of the PPP and PML-N.[23][24][25][26] These allegations were spearheaded by the PTI, but were supported by the GDA.[27][21] In response to the elections, the GDA, as well as its allies, the Jamaat-e-Islami, JUI-F and PTI rejected the elections as rigged.[28][29][30] The alliance’s head Pir of Pagaro VIII alleged that the elections were rigged, and forfeited the two seats in protest.[31] The 2024 elections for the GDA are generally considered a defeat for the alliance, with it being overshadowed by the PPP and MQM-P according to some reports,[32] Although, the GDA and its allies attribute these results to rigging.[33] The GDA still holds three seats in the Sindh Assembly.[34]
Subsequent protests
The Grand Democratic Alliance’s leadership launched large-scale protests and marches against the PPP government in protest of their alleged rigging in the 2024 elections.[35] The GDA declared February 27th, the day of the election results as a ‘Black day’ and compared the Sindh elections to the 1970 elections where Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s mandate was stolen.[36] The protests were called a ‘million march’ by some sources and consisted of rallies and protests through out rural Sindh, mainly in Karachi by GDA leaders. The anti-PPP protests and rallies were supported by the JUI-F, JI and PTI-SIC.[28]
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