Musharraf, Pervez

Musharraf was born in Delhi , in the family of a clerk of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was the second of three sons. In 1947, he moved to Karachi (Pakistan) with his family. In infancy he lived in Turkey, because his father served as a diplomat there. In Pakistan, he studied in Christian schools, and then received a military education at the Military Academy.

Military career

After graduating from the Military Academy, he participated in two wars against India. ^[one]

Pervez Musharraf held various positions in the armed forces of Pakistan, including the positions of commander of an infantry division (1991) and commander of an elite 1st corps (1995). He was Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the Ministry of Defense of Pakistan, from 1993 to 1995, he served as Director General of the Directorate of Combined Arms Operations of the High Command of the Armed Forces.

On October 7, 1998, he was promoted to full generals and appointed chief of staff of the Pakistan Army.

Prerequisites

In late 1998 - early 1999, there was a detente in Pakistan’s relations with India, this was facilitated by the meetings held between Sharif and his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayi. However, all efforts were frustrated in May, when an increase in tensions unprecedented since 1971 began. Indian troops defeated Pakistani special forces invading Kashmir territory in the Kargil sector (see Kargil war ). The operation to seize Kashmir, developed by the Pakistani military, failed, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that army representatives acted on their own initiative. The military was outraged by this behavior of the prime minister, regarding him as a "betrayal of national interests."

According to some Indian analysts, the conflict in Kargil was designed by Musharraf as a rehearsal of the Pakistani strategic plan for a full-scale war with India. According to some sources, Sharif allegedly did not know about the participation of regular units in the conflict, and Musharraf told the prime minister only after India had managed to give a powerful rebuff to the militants. The defeat of the Pakistanis in the Kargil conflict turned out to be bloody and aggravated the hostility between the general and the prime minister. ^[one]

Coup

In the context of confrontation with Pervez Musharraf, Sharif suspected that Musharraf was planning to seize power, and decided to strike first. On October 11, 1999, when Musharraf was returning from a trip abroad, the prime minister announced the resignation of the commander and forbade his aircraft to land in Pakistan. The reaction of the military was quick - the leadership of the armed forces opposed the Prime Minister. Upon learning of the Prime Minister’s decision, General Musharraf interrupted his visit to Sri Lanka and returned home. The plane with the general landed safely at Karachi airport, where he was met by a large group of like-minded people, and on October 12, 1999, Musharraf led a bloodless coup against the government of Sharif. Within hours, army units took control of the main government buildings, television and airports in the leading cities of the country. General Zia Uddin, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Sartaj Aziz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, and Mushahid Hussein, Minister of Information, were put under house arrest by Prime Minister Zia Uddin, appointed by him the day before. Soon Pervez Musharraf led the country ^[1] .

Musharraf became known as the "head of the executive branch." A state of emergency was introduced in the country, the military suspended the constitution and the work of the legislative authorities, and the central and regional governments were dissolved. After the coup, a new state body was established - the National Security Council, which was called to advise the head of the executive branch (since 2001, the president) on Islamic ideology, national security and other major components of national policy ^[1] .

The new military ruler promised to end corruption, and in international affairs to begin negotiations with India on the issue of Kashmir and with Afghanistan on the issue of terrorism. The Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that General Musharraf was given a deadline until October 2002 to return the country to democratic rule. ^[one]

On June 20, 2001, P. Musharraf became president of Pakistan, replacing Rafik Tarar in this post and receiving consent to be sworn in by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Irshad Hasan-Khan. At the same time, Musharraf retained the posts of chief executive and armed forces. On April 30, 2002, a referendum was held in Pakistan on the appointment of Pervez Musharraf as president of the country for a period of five years. The appointment approved 97.97% of voters ^[2] . In October 2002, Musharraf promised to hold new parliamentary elections, after which he would ask the parliament to elect him president for a five-year term. The proclamation of Musharraf as the President of Pakistan provoked a protest by the leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, Benazir Bhutto , who accused the general of violating the constitution. In 2004, Shaukat Aziz became Prime Minister. ^[3]

Attempts

From 2003 to 2005, he survived three attempts at an attempt on his life. Another 14 attempts, according to Pakistani intelligence services, were prevented. The loudest were the assassination attempts on December 14 and December 25, 2003.

On December 14, 2003, the president’s motorcade passed over a bridge in the vicinity of the city of Rawalpindi . Five explosive devices were laid under the bridge, but thanks to special equipment that suppressed radio signals, they worked after the motorcade crossed the bridge.

On December 25, 2003, a presidential motorcade driving through Rawalpindi was attacked by two trucks filled with explosives. The suicide bomber first crushed the police constable to death, and then managed to touch the president’s motorcade, in which Pakistan’s army intelligence officer Lieutenant-General Nadim Taj was driving. The second car, driven by another terrorist, also exploded, but Musharraf’s motorcade was not injured. 14 bystanders died, forty more people were injured. The investigation of this case went under conditions of deep secrecy. The exact number of those arrested has not yet been officially announced. At first, the president accused the international terrorist organization Al Qaeda of the assassination, but during the investigation, the Pakistani authorities found that these attempts were organized by two independent groups, which included lower-level army officers and Islamic extremists. The people detained in the framework of the investigation of the case of two attempts were tried by two different military tribunals. The organizers of the attacks were sentenced to death by hanging and life imprisonment in the fall of 2005 , ^{[4] [5]} executed on December 21, 2014 ^[6] .

Re-election

Fight for reelection

As a result of inconsistent actions of the legislative, legal and administrative branches of government, and, above all, as a result of the open-ended contradictions between P. Musharraf and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Choudhry re-election to the presidency, and the Supreme Court was slow in deciding the case.

On September 28, 2007, the Supreme Court of Pakistan allowed Pervez Musharraf to participate in the presidential elections, while remaining the commander-in-chief of the army. In order to allow Musharraf to the election, six out of nine supreme judges voted, the other three voted against. Thus, the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit of the opposition parties, which insisted that, according to the constitution, only a civilian could be a presidential candidate, and demanded that Musharraf be removed from the elections if he did not give up the post of commander in chief.

On October 6, 2007, a presidential election was held, won by the current head of state, General Pervez Musharraf. The Supreme Court, however, refused to confirm the legitimacy of his election until he resigned from military service to the reserve ^[1] .

State of emergency

On November 5, the court planned to consider the question of the legitimacy of electing Pervez Musharaff for another presidential term in October 2007. According to his opponents, the president violated the law, retaining the post of army commander: according to the constitution, only a civilian can be the head of state. The situation in Pakistan was complicated not only by the political confrontation between the president and the opposition, but also by the ongoing terrorist attacks organized by the Islamists.

On November 3, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency in the country. The constitution was suspended, private television channels were discontinued in major cities, and the telephone network was also disconnected in the capital. Seven of the seventeen members of the Supreme Court immediately recognized the presidential decree as illegal and were detained. The military blocked approaches to the main government facilities. In his address to the nation, Musharraf explained his decision by the threat that Islamic extremists created for the country. In addition, he referred to the hostile activities of the judiciary, which paralyzed the work of the government. The situation was aggravated by reports of detentions of leaders and activists of the Pakistani opposition forces. Bhutto launched a campaign against Musharraf, demanding the lifting of the state of emergency. Soon, the opposition leader was under house arrest, and the “long march” planned by her supporters in Islamabad was banned. ^[7]

Musharraf, in accordance with the decree on the introduction of the interim Constitution, dismissed Iftikkhar Mohammed Chowdhury from the post of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, appointing his successor. On November 22, the new Supreme Court, consisting of loyal judges to Musharraf, agreed to recognize him as president. The Supreme Court, headed by a new chief judge, hastened the consideration of the case on the re-election of the current President P. Musharraf. By decision of the Supreme Court, the Pakistani Election Commission on November 24 informed the transitional government about the victory of P. Musharraf in the last presidential election. After that, Musharraf promised to leave the post of commander of the national army and rule the country as a civilian.

Civil President

On November 28, 2007, Musharraf left the post of chief of staff of the Pakistan Army, and on November 29 he took the oath as a civilian head of state. During the inauguration, Musharraf vowed to abide by the country's constitution, and to protect and defend his people. And he called his accession to the post of civic president "an important step towards the establishment of democracy in the country." At the same time, he said that he would not succumb to Western pressure to lift the state of emergency. “We need democracy, we need human rights, we need stability, but we will come to this in our own way,” said Musharraf. The next step was to be general elections and the formation of a new government. ^[eight]

Resignation and arrest

On August 18, 2008, he voluntarily resigned from the post of President of Pakistan in connection with the threat of an impeachment procedure that was appointed for that day. ^[9] His decision to resign under guarantees of his own security was also influenced by the positions of Western countries (including the US), who refused him his support, and the position of the Pakistani army, which refused to take any action to protect the president if he was impeached . ^[ten]

Two criminal cases were instituted against Musharraf in his homeland: in 2009 on the fact of unlawful removal of judges ^[11] , and on February 12, 2011 a Pakistani court issued a warrant for the arrest of Musharraf in the Bhutto murder case. An ex-leader who lives in the UK has told through a representative that he will not return to his homeland ^[12] .

March 24, 2013 returned from exile to take part in elections . March 31, 2013 accused of treason at a special session of the Verkhovnogo court in Islamabad with the detention. The execution of the sentence was thwarted due to the opposition of Musharraf to the court decision. On April 30, 2013, Musharraf, according to the court ruling, is prohibited from engaging in political activities in Pakistan for life. October 9, 2013 released on bail. October 10, 2013 re-arrested ^[13] .

Musharraf enjoys sports, and in his free time he plays squash, badminton and golf. Engaged in canoeing, loves water sports, card games. One of Musharraf's hobbies is military history. As reported in the press, his favorite movie - "Gladiator", which tells about the ancient Roman commander, leading the fight against the vicious emperor. In 2006, participating in the TV program on the Geo Television channel, dedicated to the fourth anniversary of this private TV channel, Musharraf, answering children’s questions, admitted that he almost didn’t cook: “ I only know how French toasts are prepared. I and my wife taught them to cook . ” ^[14]

• Musharraf, Pervez - Lentapedia article. year 2012.
• In Pakistan, executed terrorists who attempted to the life of the president of the country