he news of the Sharif's dismissal made headlines all over the world and under pressure by the US President Bill Clinton and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, Musharraf succumbed to spare Sharif's life in an agreement facilitated by Saudi Arabia. Departed to Saudi Arabia to be settled in a Jeddah in King Fahd's private residence, Sharif was forced to be out of politics for nearly ten years.
The presidency of Musharraf features the coming of liberal forces in the national power for the first time in the history of Pakistan.[132] Earlier initiatives taken towards the continuation of economic liberalization, privatization, and freedom of media in Pakistan in 1999.[133] The Citibank executive, Shaukat Aziz, returned to country upon Musharraf's request to take the control of the national economy after securing the appointment in Finance ministry in 1999.[134]
In 2000, the government issued a massive nationwide amnesty to the political workers of liberal parties, sidelining the conservatives and leftists in the country.[135][136] Reviewing the policy to create a counter cultural attack on India, Musharraf personally signed and issued hundreds of licenses to the private sector to open new media houses and set up channels, free from government influence. On 12 May 2000, the Supreme Court ordered the Government to hold general elections by 12 October 2002. Ties with the United States were renewed by Musharraf who endorsed the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan as reactionary to 9/11 attacks in the United States, in 2001.[137]Confrontation with India continued over the disputed Kashmir, which led to serious military standoff in 2002 after India alleged Pakistan-backed Kashmiri militants laid the attack on Indian parliament in ending month of 2001.[138] Military formations and deployment continued in all over the country during this period, with stationing of XI Corps in North-western Pakistan while the rest of the components were positioned in eastern, southern, and the northern borders of the country.[139]
Attempting to legitimize his presidency[140] and assuring its continuance after the impending elections, Musharraf held a controversial referendum in 2002,[141] which allowed the extension of his presidential term to a period ending five years.[142] The LFO Order No. 2002was issued by Musharraf in August 2001, which established the constitutional basis for his continuance in office.[143] The 2002 general elections marked the liberals, the MQM, and centrist PML(Q), winning the majority in the parliament to form the government.
The LFO effectively paralyzed the state parliament for over a year. Musharraf asked his parliamentary opponents to reach a concession by December 2003. The Musharraf-backed liberals eventually mustered the two-thirds majority required to pass the 17th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan. The transformation of the country's political system from parliamentary republic to semi-presidential republic was made through the 17th Amendment which retroactively legitimized Musharraf's 1999 actions and many of his subsequent decrees. In a vote of confidence on January 2004, Musharraf won 658 out of 1,170 votes in the electoral college, and according to Article 41(8) of the Constitution of Pakistan, was elected to the office of President.[144] Soon after his presidential election, Musharraf increased the role of Shaukat Aziz in the parliament and helped him to secure the party nomination for the office of Prime Minister.
With Shaukat Aziz becoming the prime minister in 2004, his regime yielded positive results on economic front and his proposed social reforms were met with resistance. The far-right religious alliance mobilized itself in fierce opposition to Musharraf and Aziz who were dismayed by their Post-9/11 alliance with the United States and endorsement of military support to the U.S. Forces in 2001 campaign in Afghanistan.[145][146] In over two years, several attempts were survived by Musharraf and Aziz hatched by al-Qaeda including at least two instances where they had inside information from a member of his military administration.[135] On foreign fronts, the allegations of nuclear proliferation further damaged Musharraf and Aziz's credibility when country's scientists were accused of suspected activities of giving and sharing the technology to global atomic proliferation. Repression and subjugation in Tribal line led to a heavy fighting in Warsk between Pakistan Armed Forces and 400 al-Qaeda operatives who were entrenched in several fortified settlements on March 2004. The hunt for Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri was launched in the border-side of the country, contributing in sparking the sectarian violence. This new war forced the government to sign a truce with the militants on 5 September 2006; nonetheless the sectarian violence continued.
Since 2001 and onward, Navaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto's popular support was gaining a lot of momentum in the country.[147] In 2007, Sharif made a daring attempt to return from exile but was refrained from landing at Islamabad Terminal. Sharif was forcefully departed to Saudi Arabia on a first given flight, whilst outside the airport there were violent confrontations between Sharif's supporters and the police.[148] This did not deter another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, from returning on 18 October 2007 after an eight-year exile in Dubai and London, to prepare for the parliamentary elections to be held in 2008.[149][150] While leading a massive rally of supporters, two deadly suicide attacks were carried out in an attempt to assassinate Benazir Bhutto, though she escaped unharmed but there were 136 casualties and at least 450 people were injured.[151]
With Aziz completing his term, the liberal alliance now led by Musharraf was further weakened after General Musharraf proclaimed a state of emergencyand sacked the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry along with other 14 judges of the Supreme Court, on 3 November 2007,.[132][152][153] The political situation became more chaotic when lawyers launched a protest against this action but they were arrested. All private media channels including foreign channels were banned and Musharraf declared that the state of emergency would end on 16 December 2007.[154] The global financial crises, energy crises, domestic crime and violence further escalated while Musharraf made desperate attempts to contain the political pressure. Stepping down from the military, Musharraf was sworn in for a second presidential term on 28 November 2007.[155][156]
Popular support for Musharraf declined when Nawaz Sharif, this time accompanied by his younger brother and his daughter, successfully made a second attempt to return from exile; hundreds of their supporters, including a few leaders of their party were detained before the pair arrived at Iqbal Terminal, on 25 November 2007.[157][158] Nawaz Sharif filed his nomination papers for two seats in the forthcoming elections whilst Benazir Bhutto filed for three seats including one of the reserved seats for women.[159] Departing an election rally in Rawalpindi on 27 December 2007, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by a gunman who shot her in the neck and set off a bomb,[160][161] killing 20 other people and injuring several more.[162] The exact sequence of the events and cause of death became points of political debate and controversy, because, although early reports indicated that Benazir Bhutto was hit by shrapnel or the gunshots,[163] the Pakistan Interior ministrymaintained that her death was due from a skull fracture sustained when the explosive waves threw her against the sunroof of her vehicle.[164]The issue remains controversial and the investigations were further conducted by British Scotland Yard. After a meeting in Islamabad, the Election Commission announced that, due to the assassination,[165] the elections, which had been scheduled for 8 January 2008, would take place on 18 February.[166]
The 2008 general elections marked the return of the leftists in the country's power politics, on 18 February 2008.[167][168] The left oriented, PPP, and conservative PML, won majority of seats together in the election and formed a coalition government; the liberal alliance then finally faded. Yousaf Raza Gillani of PPP became the Prime minister and consolidated his power after ending a policy deadlock in order to lead the movement to impeach the president on 7 August 2008. Before restoring the deposed judiciary, Gillani and his leftist alliance leveled accusation against Musharraf for weakening Pakistan's unity, violating its constitution and creating economic impasse.[169] As momentum on Musharraf gained, President Musharraf began consultations with his close aides on the implications of the impeachment and readily made available himself to reply to the charges levied upon him. Gillani's effective strategy to force Musharraf from presidency succeeded when Pervez Musharraf announced in a very short long televised address to the nation to announce his resignation, ending his nine-year-long reign on 18 August 2008.[170]
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