President Pervez Musharraf's
TIMELINE
October 12, 1999• General Pervez Musharraf became the de facto Head of the State, using the title 'Chief Executive', and assumed enormous powers, following a bloodless coup d'etat in which elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif was overthrownOctober 15, 1999• In response to the court petitions filed by the people challenging his assumption of power, Musharraf issued the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) that required the judges of the superior judiciary to swear allegiance to his military ruleMay 12, 2000• The Supreme Court of Pakistan, now comprising only those judges who had re-taken their oaths under the PCO ordered Musharraf to hold general elections by October 12, 2002June 20, 2001• Musharraf assumed the office of the 12th president of Pakistan, a few days before his scheduled visit to Agra for talks with the then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari VajpayeeSeptember 19, 2001• Musharraf addressed the people of Pakistan and stated that while he supported the Taliban, unless the country reversed its position, it risked being endangered by an alliance of India and the USJuly 2001• Direct elections were held in five phases for members of union councils, including nazims and naib nazims, during 2000-2001. On the basis of these direct elections, indirect elections were held in July 2001 for zila nazims and naib nazims and also for tehsil/town nazims and naib nazimsAugust 14, 2001• The new Local Government System was finally installedJanuary 12, 2002• Musharraf delivered a landmark speech against extremism, condemning all acts of terrorism, including those carried out in the name of freeing the Held Kashmir's Muslim majority from the Indian rule. He also pledged to combat extremism and lawlessness within PakistanApril 30, 2002• In order to secure a legal cover for holding the office of the president, and to ensure its continuation for five more years in the wake of the then-approaching elections, Musharraf held a presidential referendum. Amidst incidents of boycott and political groups' complaints of massive rigging, and despite voter turnout being less than 30 per cent, Musharraf was declared victoriousJuly 10, 2002• Musharraf went live on TV and apologised to the nation for "irregularities" committed during the referendumOctober 12, 2002• General elections were held, with the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) emerging as the majority party at the national level. The Benazir-Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), however, secured the maximum votesNovember 21, 2002• Musharraf handed over certain powers to the newly-elected Parliament. The National Assembly elected Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali as the prime minister who, in turn, appointed his CabinetDecember 14, 2003• Musharraf survived an assassination attempt when a powerful bomb went off minutes after his highly-guarded convoy crossed a bridge in Rawalpindi. The president was apparently saved by a jamming device in his limousineDecember 25, 2003• Two suicide bombers failed in their attempt to assassinate Musharraf, although 16 others standing nearby were killed. The president escaped with only a cracked windscreen on his car. Militant Amjad Farooqi was said to be the mastermind behind both attempts, and was killed by Pakistani forces in 2004 after an extensive manhuntDecember 2003• Musharraf struck a deal with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a coalition of six religious parties, in an attempt to end the deadlock with the opposition in the National Assembly that had lasted for more than 14 months. As per the deal, Musharraf promised to doff the uniform by December 31, 2004. Thanks to MMA's support, the pro-Musharraf legislators were able to muster the two-thirds majority required to get the 17th Amendment passed in the National AssemblyJanuary 1, 2004• In a vote of confidence, Musharraf secured 658 out of the total 1,170 votes and, according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, was 'deemed to be elected' to the office of president until October 2007June 26, 2004• Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali resigned, after he lost the support of the ruling PML-Q. According to rumours, his resignation was triggered by growing differences with PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and it happened at the behest of Musharraf. Jamali was replaced by Shaukat Aziz, the then finance minister, after he won two National Assembly seats. Meanwhile, Shujaat Hussain served as the interim prime minister for about three monthsFebruary 18, 2004• Musharraf began series of talks with India to resolve the Kashmir disputeSeptember 23, 2005• Musharraf's remarks on rape courted a lot of controversy. In a tape-recorded, 50-minute interview with The Washington Post, he said that rape had become 'a moneymaking concern' in Pakistan. He later denied the statementSeptember 24, 2006• In an interview with CBS News, Musharraf described how the then-US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage had called Pakistan's intelligence director soon after the September-11 (2001) attacks, and threatened military action if Pakistan did not support the US-led 'war on terror'March 9, 2007• Musharraf suspended Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry through a presidential reference, accusing the latter of abuse of office. Another senior judge, Justice Javaid Iqbal, was appointed as the Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme CourtMarch 12, 2007• The CJP's suspension sparked countrywide protests by lawyers. In Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, and Quetta, hundreds of lawyers, dressed in black suits, attended protest rallies and condemned Musharraf's move which they termed 'unconstitutional'. More than 20 lawyers were injured in clashes with police during demonstrations in LahoreMay 12, 2007• Clashes between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other political parties left more than 40 people dead in firefights on the streets of Karachi. The office of Aaj TV was also damaged in a crossfireJuly 6, 2007• An anti-aircraft gun was fired by an unknown group at Musharraf's plane as it took off from Rawalpindi. At least 39 people were arrested, detained, and then taken to an undisclosed location by a joint team of the Punjab Police and intelligence agenciesJuly 8, 2007• The standoff between the government and the clerics of Lal Masjid in Islamabad finally erupted into full scale violence when a delegation, led by Shujaat Hussain, declared that the negotiations with the militants holed up in the mosque had failed. Troops were given the go-ahead to storm the complex in an operation code-named 'Operation Silence', whose objective was to capture or kill the militants if they resisted, and to rescue the students held hostage inside the mosqueJuly 20, 2007• The Supreme Court reinstated Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as the CJP, dismissing all misconduct charges filed by Musharraf through the presidential referenceAugust 8, 2007• A rumour spread across Pakistan that a state of emergency was going to be imposed in the country. Government ministers confirmed that the option was being considered due to 'internal and external threats' faced by the countryAugust 9, 2007• Musharraf denied that emergency was being imposed in the country. This was followed by a statement by US President George W Bush that the imposition of emergency in Pakistan was not a realityAugust 22, 2007• A survey by the US-based International Republican Institute (IPR) showed that 62 per cent of the Pakistanis did not want another term to be granted to Musharraf as president of the country• In an effort to give his image a kiss of life, Musharraf announced that he would appear as a regular guest star on state television's Q&A show titled 'Aiwan-e-Sadar Sey'. The show is aired weekly on PTVAugust 23, 2007• The Supreme Court allowed Mian Nawaz Sharif and his brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif to return to Pakistan
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