Adil Najam
In a nationally televised speech, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, has just announced his resignation, pre-empting a move to impeach him by the parliament.
This post has been updated to add news photos from this momentous day in Pakistan’s political history. The pictures speak eloquently of the moods and thoughts of the day. (Scroll down to see the video of Gen. Musharraf’s resignation speech).
Participate in a poll on what might be Pakistan’s future post-Musharraf, here.
Here is a Pervez Musharraf time-line, published in The News:
August 1943: Born in Delhi, India
1964: Joins Pakistani army.
1998: Becomes army chief of staff.
October 1999: Seizes power in a bloodless military coup, overthrowing the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. In response, the Commonwealth suspends Pakistan’s membership.
June 20 2001: Makes himself president, replacing Rafiq Tarar, while remaining head of the army. Tarar is forced out of office when the parliament that elected him is dissolved.
July 2001: Holds first meeting with the Indian prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, at Agra in India. No progress is made because of differences over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
September 2001: George Bush courts Musharraf, asking him to join him in his “war on terror” and help defeat the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan. The US president promises Pakistan $1bn in aid.
April 2002: Wins a referendum giving him another five years in office. Observers criticise the referendum as blighted by irregularities.
May 2002: Pakistan test fires three medium-range surface-to-surface missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Musharraf insists his country would not be the one to initiate war.
August 2002: Consolidates his power still further, giving himself the right to dismiss an elected parliament.
October 2002: Pakistan’s first general election since Musharraf seized power in 1999 results in a hung parliament.
November 2002: Mir Zafarullah Jamali becomes the first civilian prime minister since 1999. He is a member of a Musharraf-supporting party.
November 2003: Pakistan’s National Assembly meets for the first time since 1999.
December 2003: Musharraf promises to step down as head of the army by January 2005.
May 2004: Pakistan is readmitted to the Commonwealth.
December 2004: Musharraf announces he will stay on as head of the army.
August 2005: Pakistan tests its first nuclear-capable cruise missile.
March 2007: Musharraf suspends the chief justice, Iftakar Mohammed Chaudhry, triggering a wave of anger across the country and the first joint protests held by the parties of exiled former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.
October 2007: Signs a corruption amnesty, opening the way for Bhutto’s return and a possible power-sharing agreement. Within hours of Bhutto’s arrival back in the country, bombers attack a Bhutto rally in Karachi, killing more than 100 people.
November 2007: Declares a state of emergency, rounding up opposition leaders at gunpoint. In the same month, Musharraf quits as head of the army, becoming a civilian president.
December 15 2007: Lifts state of emergency and announces plans to go ahead with parliamentary elections scheduled for January 8.
December 27 2007: Benazir Bhutto is assassinated at an election rally in Rawalpindi.
January 2008: Elections postponed until February 18.
February 2008: The two main opposition parties gain a clear majority in the elections.
August 2008: The two main parties strike a deal to impeach Musharraf if parliament backs the move.
August 18 2008: Musharraf announces his resignation
As much as I’ve myself mixed feelings about Musharraf leaving, I do have a message for those whom are TOTALLY sad over his departure from the scene: “Come out of your mummy-daddy lives, see what he did to the Pakistani QAUM.”
Handing over your own people to foreign agencies is an act unforgivable. The sole act overshadows any good he had ever done to Pakistan.
And yes, I hate with what we are left now. Mr. 10% and Nawaz are no good either.
I hope these junglee people of ours treat this man with respect and dignity. He mean’t well for Pakistan but a Qaum like Pakistan doesn’t deserve a person like him.
They are Fit for Zardari Bhutto and Nawaz Badmash types only.
Its a Sad day for pakistan and lets see these “democratically elected officials” do for Pakistan. I know the answer to that question anyways.
He was the best Pakistani after Quaid-i Azam and Ayub Khan.
The mullahs must be happy and Taliban are heading towards the capital now.
Imran Khan is the only person left that is honest in politics.
Allah Khair kare
Musharraf has the courage to do the right thing at the right moment. 1999-2008, his record speaks for itself. This shows his character. History has shown that no other Pakistani politician had the caliber to steer Pakistan out of troubled waters like he did. Musharraf’s president no more, lets hope and pray that this government which now has no obstacles, does good to Pakistan and Pakistan becomes stable and strong.
Markets are usually good indicatros of what people are actually thinking….. interestingly The News reorts that this is what teh market did today.
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Bulls entered the market in last minutes after listening to the announcement of President Musharraf’s resignation, triggering across the board buying at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Monday.
KSE 100-Index gained 460.91 points to close at 10,719.62 as turnover was estimated at 158.862 million as prices of 234 scrips recorded gains while 36 sustained losses and 13 remained unchanged.
A dealer at a leading brokerage house said that market was mixed in the morning. However, soon after listening to the address of President Pervez Musharraf in which he announced to tender his resignation, the bulls entered the market and made all round shopping, he added.
He said that all the leading scrips went up in few minutes and upper limit locks were exercised, limiting further buying.
He said that hectic buying will be seen tomorrow (Tuesday) as investors could not complete buying according to their desire.
The market capitalization was improved by Rs 137.21 billion to Rs3.332 trillion.
NBP was the volume leader for a consecutive third day with a turnover of 13.574 million shares followed by NIB Bank 10.855 million shares, Zeal Pak Cement 10.125 million shares, OGDC 6.984 million shares and Pervez Ahmed 6.730 million shares.
OGDC closed at 118.68, NIB Bank 10.24, Arif Habib Sec 122.37,Lucky Cement 73.76, NBP 124.63, MCB Bank 303.71, Bank Al-Falah 41.04,D G Khan Cement 48.75 and POL 269.12.
Unilever recorded the highest increase of Rs 32 to 2332 followed by Shell Pakistan which moved up by 21.18 to 444.89 while Pak Engg. dipped by Rs 20.85 to 396.15 and Service Industries down by 4.96 to 94.32.
@ Dictator mush lovers
Find a new dictator pls :)
Good Riddance, Leach hung on toooooo long.