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
I agree with Yasser. He is a god-fearing, true Pakistani. He doesn’t think Musharraf is a god, unlike some people here!
To be free and breathe the air of a great democratic republic… it is an awesome feeling.
I am surprised by Musharraf4ever’s comments. He is abusing the people of Pakistan… the people of Pakistan are sovereign and tis a great thing that a general has been forced to bow before the people.
Also… I feel there is no point pursuing Musharraf any further and creating an institutional clash. The man has finally done the right thing. Now lets get on with the programme … and let History fairly judge Musharraf on his achievements and follies.
Pakistan Zindabad!
Musharraf killed Bhutto he should be hanged to death!
What are you smoking?
A few observations here…
I wonder if the good folk who are so happy to see Musharraf Go are equally happy to know that their and their children’s destiny now rests in the very able hands of Mr.Zardari…
HOW anyone can be happy with an outcome that leaves them in the hands of Proven thugs is beyond me…but then I am surprised at my own surprise as what can you expect from a nation ethralled in the fact that bearded animals kill and maim the common man while in fact the next common man eggs them on…
and a nation that has somehow convinced itself that what happened at the Lal structure (I refuse to give it the lofty title of Masjid) was somehow a tragedy to end all tragedies….sickening….
anyone ever wonder why the current johnnies in power cant or wont take even basic measures to stem the economic rot that is eating away any chance for a decent future for you and me? It’s because the thugs have all their money in dubai or the UK and are getting richer…
but hey…why think about that when you can blame it all on a lame duck president and simply wish all your troubles away…
and hey why blame the current johnnies in power when you have the TV hack journo’s like Closet Taliban Hamid Mir and Shahid Masood to listen to and delude yourself….
why hold the current lot of PROVEN failures accountable for anything when you can satisfy your self destructive streak by listening to all those in and out of uniform who were too weak themselves to wean themseleves away from power while they served but now that a man is down they find it easy to spew forth about how they were never along for the ride anyway….why even ask them the question that who out a gun to your head…why didnt you just resign…heaven forbid..those are questions rational and honourable people might ask….rationality and a sense of honour long discarded by us as a lumbering ball and chain that hold us back from achieving the nirvana of utter and total failure..
a goal that we have been trying to achieve ever since our sorry inception….
people rejoicing at his departure??!!…..shows how utterly clueless we are…not that I am a supporter…but just out of respect at our own predicament…that today is yet another sad chapter in our history….it is not a good day…its a change of guard from one set of charlatans to another set of proven kleptocrats and thugs…
it’s exactly these reasons that we see a mega plex and a Mcdonalds where an elected prime minister (love him or not) was hanged after a sham trial…
so to all who cannot help rejoicing at the current lot’s departure…chew on this for a moment and then see how you feel…
May Allah see us through our own follies….and may we still be fit to receiv His mercy….
Musharraf killed Bhutto he should be hanged to death!