| 1999 Pakistan Coup d'État | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofMilitary coups in Pakistan | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Government of Pakistan Government of Punjab |  Pakistan Army Pakistan Navy Pakistan Air Force | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Nawaz Sharif Mushtaq AhmedZiauddin Butt Iqbal NiaziShehbaz Sharif Jehan Zaib Burki | Pervez MusharrafFasih BokhariAbdul Aziz MirzaEhsan ul HaqAziz Khan Mahmud Ahmed Muzaffar Hussain UsmaniShahid AzizPervaiz Mehdi Qureshi | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Sindh Police | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~170,000 | ~617,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | None | ||||||
| ||
|---|---|---|
Politics  | ||
The1999 military takeover in Pakistan[3] was abloodlesscoup d'état initiated by themilitary staff at theJoint Staff HQ working under theChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee andChief of Army Staff GeneralPervez Musharraf. The instigatorsseized control of thecivilian government of thepopularly electedPrime MinisterNawaz Sharif on 12 October 1999.[4] On 14 October, General Musharraf,acting as the country'sChief Executive, issued a controversialprovisional order that suspended theConstitution of Pakistan.
Martial law was declared due to the breakdown ofcivil-military relations. Tensions between theSharif administration andjoint chiefs chairman General Musharraf reached a breaking point. In an attempt to maintaincivilian control over themilitary,Lieutenant-GeneralZiauddin Butt, thenDirector of the ISI, was hastily approved for the appointment of thearmy chief, but the decision was opposed by senior members of theJoint Staff HQ, who refused to follow the newchain of command, deciding instead to direct theMilitary Police to detain General Butt and prevent his taking control of the military.[5]
The pace of the coup startled political observers; within 17 hours of Sharif's attempt to relieve General Musharraf, army commanders took control of all key government institutions throughout the country and placed Sharif and hisadministration, which included hisbrother, underhouse arrest.[6]Military police took control of thestate broadcaster,radio and the entire critical communications infrastructure, and announced that Sharif had been dismissed.[6]
TheSupreme Court of Pakistan led byChief Justice Irshad Hassan Khan validated the martial law under a "doctrine of necessity" but limited its legality to three years.[7]: 118 Meanwhile, Sharif was tried by theJudge Advocate GeneralCourt and convicted of endangering the lives of all passengers aboard the aircraft carrying Musharraf,[8]: 56–57 with themilitary court upholding the decision.[8] When the decision was announced, it sparked fury in the conservativePML(N) but was welcomed by many of its political opponents.[8] In 2000, the Supreme Court accepted arguments that the coup was a "violation of the constitution". However, acting Chief JusticeErshad Hasan later argued of the constitutionality of the coup.[7]: 119–120 [9]: 112–115
On 10 December 2000, Musharraf unexpectedly issued apardon to Nawaz Sharif to be flown toSaudi Arabia.[10]: 167–168 [11]: 73–74 In 2016, Musharraf later confessed in an interview given toKamran Shahid ofDunya that "he pardoned Sharif from life imprisonment on the request ofKing Abdullah andRafic Hariri."[12]
In 2001, Musharraf issued theexecutive decree and eventuallyforced PresidentRafiq Tarar to resign in order for Musharraf to assume thepresidency.[13] In light of theSupreme Court's verdict, thenational referendum was held on 30 April 2002, allowing himself to continue his rule,[14][15] but was alleged by many (including theHuman Rights Commission of Pakistan) to be fraudulent.[14][15] In 2002, thegeneral elections restoreddemocracy when the Musharraf-backedPML(Q), thelibertarians, were able to form aminority government who would later nominate Musharraf for the2004 presidential elections. In 2007, President Musharraf eventually imposed anothermartial law by having suspended the populist Chief JusticeIM Chaudhry, leveling charges of corruption and misconduct. Unlike the earlier martial law, Musharraf was widely disapproved, invitingmass demonstrations led by Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf eventually resigned in an attempt to avoidimpeachment in the Parliament.[16]
Sharif was acquitted in 2009 from the 1999 hijacking case[17] and in 2014 acquitted of themoney laundering and corruption cases from an accountability court.[18]
In 1997,Nawaz Sharif and his conservativePakistan Muslim League-N won a landslide victory in thegeneral elections, resulting in atwo-thirds majority in theNational Assembly– thelower house ofbicameralParliament of Pakistan.[19]
His second tenure was marked with a serious legal confrontation with theSupreme Court courted byChief JusticeSajjad Ali Shah over the legality and technicality ofThirteenth Amendment and theEhtesab Act, 1997 (lit. Accountability Act, 1997).[19]Chief Justice Shah had been battling in the Supreme Court for his legitimacy due to manysenior justices had seen his appointment as "inappropriate and political", having been appointed by formerprime ministerBenazir Bhutto in 1994.[20] On 29 October 1997,Chief Justice Shah and his bench decided to hear the petition filed by thePakistan Peoples Party'slawyers and suspended the implementation of bills.[21]: 45–46 Prime Minister Sharif reacted angrily to the Court's actions, by issuing an intemperate public diatribe particularly againstChief Justice Shah.[21]: 45–46 On 2 November 1997,Chief Justice Shah summoned Prime Minister Sharif forcontempt of court but this order was viewed "null and voided" when twosenior justices at the Supreme Court issued a counter-order.[21]: 45–46 On 30 November 1997, Prime Minister Sharif appeared before the Supreme Court but hispartisans stormed theSupreme Court Building forcing Chief Justice Shah to remove the finding of contempt against Sharif.[22]: 190 While thepolice gained control of the situation to restorelaw and order, the whole nation witnessed traumatising and terrifying scenes on their television screens broadcast by thenews media all over the country.[22]: 190
Subsequently, theSupreme Judicial Council took up a case against the appointment ofChief Justice Shah on 23 December and declared Chief Justice Shah's appointment "illegal and unconstitutional" that eventually forced him to resign from his office on 2 December 1997.[21]: 46 PresidentFarooq Leghari who supported the cause ofChief Justice Shah also had to resign whenarmy chief GeneralJehangir Karamat andChairman joint chiefsAir Chief MarshalFeroze Khan intervened to resolve the crises.[23]: 175–176 Prime Minister Sharif eventually appointed his Chief JusticeSaeeduzzaman Siddiqui based on merit qualification and offered presidency to former supreme court justiceRafiq Tarar who was elected in 1998.[19]
In 1998, Prime Minister Sharifeffectively relieved Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee GeneralJehangir Karamat from the command of the military when General Karamat delivered a college lecture at theNaval War College inKarachi.[24]: 107–108 At this lecture, General Karamat called for establishing theNational Security Council (NSC) which would be backed by a "team of civil-military experts" for devising policies to seek resolution ongoing problems relating the civil-military issues; also recommended a "neutral but competentbureaucracy and administration of at federal level and the establishment ofLocal governments infour provinces.[25]: 66–68
Relieving of General Karamat plummeted Sharif's own public approvals and his relations with the military, as even his senior Cabinet ministers were in disagreement of Sharif's decision.[26] Many political observers were taken in complete surprise since the dismissal of four-star rank general had never happened before in country'sshort history.[27]: 145–146
Eventually, Sharif chose then-Lieutenant-GeneralPervez Musharraf over two senior army generals for the appointment to post of thearmy chief and acting Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee.[28]: 64–67 A year later, the civil military relations took a sharp turn in the opposition of Sharif when he invited and receivedIndian Prime MinisterAtal Vajpayee in Lahore for peace talks, much to agitation of General Musharraf who did not welcome outcomes ofLahore Summit.[29]: 150–151
In 1999, thePakistan Army soldiers secretly crossed theLine of Control (LoC) and infiltrated inKargil on the direct orders issues by General Musharraf, bringing thetwo nations at the brink of war.[30]: 118–121 TheIndian Army reacted with launching of full-fledged military coordinated operations while Indian government effectively put diplomatic pressure on Sharif's government to withdraw the soldiers from the Kargil sector.[31] Both Sharif and General Musharraf held each other responsible for the actions in the Kargil sector, charging each other of lying and hiding details of the hostilities to the nation.[32]
At the public circle, Sharif assigned blame for the political/diplomatic disaster on General Musharraf, and Musharraf placing the blame on Prime Minister Sharif.[33] In September 1999, General Musharraf forcefully retired Lieutenant-General Tariq Pervez who was known to be close to Sharif and cousin ofRaja Nadir Pervez, theCommunications Minister.[34]: 39
Upon meeting with Sharif, General Tariq Pervez had ultimately warned Sharif of "making any move against General Musharraf or the army would strike."[34]: 39
The revolt of AdmiralFasih Bokhari, theChief of Naval Staff, over Sharif's public decision of extending General Musharraf's tenure as Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee until 2001 was another issue that saw the breaking down of civil-military relations. About the Kargil war, Admiral Bokhari was not of the view of supporting the Pakistan Army's engagement with the Indian Army as appropriate and subsequently lodged a powerful protest against General Musharraf'sgrand strategy while recommending the constitution of a commission to completely probe the Kargil issue.[35]
At the country'snews media, Admiral Bokhari publicly questioned the effectiveness of themilitary strategy behind the Kargil infiltration and was very critical of General Musharraf's unilateral decisions involving the national security, as Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee, without considering the opinions of Chiefs of Staff of Pakistan Air Force and the Pakistan Navy.[36]
In 1999, Sharif quarrelled with Admiral Bokhari and hisNavy NHQ staff over the merit-based appointment of General Musharraf to theChairman Joint Chiefs that was only meant to be temporary and it was hoped that Admiral Bokhari would be appointed to the post.[37]: contents [38] In August 1999, there were rising tensions between Admiral Bokhari and Prime Minister Sharif over issue ofincident took place inSir Creek, although both had kept the working relations on good terms.[39]
In September 1999, General Musharraf had sent a message to Prime Minister Sharif that "anyone in the Navy and Air Force can become theChairman Joint Chiefs as I did not care."[40]: 111 General Musharraf reportedly backed Admiral Bokhari's bid for theChairman Joint Chiefs but he was overshadowed by the Prime Minister who confirmed and extended General Musharraf's term until 2001.[41]
Civil-military relations were further damaged when Admiral Bokhari lodged a strong protest against this decision in the news media and reportedly revolted against Prime Minister Sharif's appointment for the Chairman Joint Chiefs in 1999.[42] Admiral Bokhari abruptly tendered his resignation to the Prime Minister Sharif and noted to Sharif that since General Musharraf was his junior and often referred to him as "Sir".[42]: 1265 [43]
On 5 October 1999, Admiral Bokhari resigned from the command of the Navy as thenews media construed Admiral Bokhari's resignation merely as unhappiness over not being appointed asChairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff Committee.[42] Admiral Bokhari's revolt saw the meltdown of thecivil-military relations between the elected civilian government and the military leaders that eventually led to the military overtaking the civilian government by dismissing Prime Minister Sharif on 12 October 1999.[44]: 63
In the aftermath of theKargil War, followed by theAtlantique incident, there were widespread rumors and media speculations in the television news media about the either possible military takeover or resignation of General Musharraf in September 1999.[45]
In October 1999, General Musharraf paid an official visit toSri Lanka on an invitation ofSri Lankan ArmyCommanderLieutenant-GeneralSrilal Weerasooriya. Ultimately, Prime Minister Sharif dismissed General Musharraf from the command of the military and nominated Lieutenant-GeneralZiauddin Butt, the DGISI, over several army officers on 12 October 1999.[46] Developments came when General Musharraf, along withMajor-GeneralTariq Majid andBrigadierNadeem Taj, returned to Pakistan on aPIA777-200.[47]
According to the sources, theCivil Aviation Authority (CAA) was ordered by Sharif to divert the plane toIndia but then it was rerouted toShaheed Benazirabad, then known asNawabshah.[47] When this was failed to be comprehended by the pilot, the CAA was ordered to close the runways by turning off theedge lights at theJinnah International Airport in an attempt to refuse the landing.[47] The units ofmilitary police led by Lieutenant-GeneralIftikhar sealed the civilian airport and seized thecontrol tower, allowing the plane to land on a runway. From the control tower, then Karachi Corps Commander GeneralMuzaffar Hussain Usmani contacted General Musharraf, in his flight and assured him that landing the plane was safe since the army now controlled Jinnah Terminal. The military police seized the control of the state-runmedia television headquarters and encircled thePrime Minister Secretariat building while gaining control of the international airports and cutting off the international phone lines.[48][49]
There were four army generals who were central in staging Musharraf's coup against Sharif's government:General Ehsan ul Haq,Aziz Khan,Mahmood Ahmad, andShahid Aziz.These four officers played a crucial role in installing General Musharraf asChief Executive while they detained Sharif in a local prison.[50]: 185–185 On 14 October 1999, Musharraf appeared on television to declare astate of emergency and issued aProvisional Constitutional Order that ultimately suspended the writ of theConstitution of Pakistan and dissolved theNational Assembly andfour provincial assemblies, although they leftMuhammad Rafiq Tarar in office asPresident.[51]
However, General Musharraf strongly objected the wordage use of "martial law" or "coup d'état", instead insisting that: "This is not martial law, only another path towards democracy."[52] TheISPR also confirmed that "There is no martial law in the country."[3]
Soon after taking over the country, an emergency was declared in the country. Following is the text of the Proclamation of Emergency declared by Musharraf:[53]
In pursuance of deliberations and decisions of chiefs of staff of the Armed Forces and corps commanders of Pakistan Army, I General Pervez Musharraf, chairman joint chiefs of staff committee and chief of army staff, proclaim emergency throughout Pakistan and assume the office of the chief executive of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
I hereby order and proclaim as follows:
(a) The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shall remain in abeyance
(b) The President of Pakistan shall continue in office
(c) TheNational Assembly, the Provincial Assemblies andSenate shall stand suspended
(d) The chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate, the speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies shall stand suspended
(e) The prime minister, the federal ministers, ministers of state, advisers to the prime minister, parliamentary secretaries, the provincial governors, the provincial chief ministers, the provincial ministers and the advisers to the chief ministers shall cease to hold office
(f) The whole of Pakistan will come under the control of theArmed Forces of Pakistan.
This proclamation shall come into force at once and be deemed to have taken effect on the 12th day of October, 1999.
Following is the text of Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) promulgated by Musharraf. After its proclamation, the order was modified on multiple occasions:[54]
In pursuance of Proclamation of the 14th day of October, 1999, and in exercise of all powers enabling him in that behalf, the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Army Staff and Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan under the Proclamation of Emergency of 14th day of October 1999 (hereinafter referred to as the Chief Executive) is pleased to make and promulgate the following Order:
1.
- (1) This Order may be called Provisional Constitution Order No.1 of 1999;
- (2) It extends to the whole of Pakistan;
- (3) It shall come into force at once.
2.
- (1) Notwithstanding the abeyance of the provisions of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, hereinafter referred to as the Constitution, Pakistan shall, subject to this Order and any other Orders made by the Chief Executive, be governed, as nearly as may be, in accordance with the Constitution.
- (2) Subject as aforesaid, all courts in existence immediately before the commencement of this Order, shall continue to function and to exercise their respective powers and jurisdiction provided that theSupreme Court or High Courts and any other court shall not have the powers to make any order against the Chief Executive or any person exercising powers or jurisdiction under his authority;
- (3) The Fundamental Rights conferred by Chapter I of Part II of the Constitution, not in conflict with the Proclamation of Emergency or any Order made thereunder from time to time, shall continue to be in force.
3.
- (1) The President shall act on, and in accordance with the advice of the Chief Executive;
- (2) The Governor of the Province shall act on, and in accordance with the instructions of the Chief Executive.
4.
- (1) No Court, Tribunal or other authority shall call or permit to be called in question the proclamation of Emergency of 14th day of October, 1999 or any Order made in pursuance thereof.
- (2) No judgment, decree, writ, order or process whatsoever shall be made or issued by any court or tribunal against the Chief Executive or any authority designated by the Chief Executive.
5. Notwithstanding the abeyance of the provisions of the Constitution, but subject to the Orders of the Chief Executive, all laws other than the Constitution shall continue in force until altered, amended or repealed by the Chief Executive or any authority designated by him.
6. The Proclamation of Emergency issued on 28th day of May 1998, shall continue but subject to the provisions of Proclamation of Emergency dated 14th day of October 1999 and this Provisional Constitution Order and any other Order made thereunder.
7. All persons who, immediately before the commencement of this Order, were in the service of Pakistan as defined in Article 260 of the Constitution and those persons who immediately before such commencement were in office as Judge of the Supreme Court, the Federal Shariat Court or a High Court or Auditor-General or Ombudsman and Chief Ehtesab Commissioner, shall continue in the said service on the same terms and conditions and shall enjoy the same privileges, if any.
Upon hearing the news of Sharif's arrest, thePML(N) partisans and the party leadership led byJaved Hashmi, a conservative politician inLahore andMamnoon Hussain inKarachi called out and led massive street demonstrations and protests in the streets of Lahore, Karachi, and other cities.[55]: 2432
The conservative supporters ofNawaz Sharif did not welcome this coup and saw this event as a conspiracy but many of Sharif's rivals welcomed this coup, holding celebration parties around different parts of the country.[20] Although there were reports of unconfirmedmedia blackout of Sharif-aligned conservative media, no restrictions were imposed on the liberal/libertarian news media.[20]: 416–418
There were reports of repression and human rights abuse taken place by the authorities under General Musharraf, as the pro-democracy demonstrations were forcefully and effectively crushed by Musharraf's regime.[20]
TheSupreme Court of Pakistan courted by theChief JusticeSaeeduzzaman Siddiqui partially provided the legality of the martial law in a view of "doctrine of necessity" after Musharraf's lawyerSharifuddin Pirzada argued for the martial law on technicality, but its legality was only limited to three years.[7]: 25 [56]: 118 Meanwhile, Sharif was tried by the militaryjudge advocate general where allegations ofcorruption,terrorism, and money laundering were leveled against him.[8]: 56–57 Eventually, the military court's inconclusive rulings found him to be guilty and convicted him for risking the life of all the passengers on board including the sitting Chairman joint chiefs.[8]: 57
On 15 November 1999, theSupreme Court of Pakistan decided to hear the petitions filed byPML-N's lawyerZafar Ali Shah on behalf of Sharif andAitzaz Ahsan requesting a supreme court's intervention to declare the military takeover "illegal and unconstitutional", and order the restoration of Sharif's government and reinstatement of the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies that were suspended.[57] The PML(N)'s lawyers began their court battle with the Musharraf's lawyers when additional petitions were filed byPML(N), Muslim Welfare Movement, and Wahabul Khairi, an advocate challenging the legality of the coup.[58]
On 1 December 1999, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court was constituted to hear these appeals and as lawyers of each side to present cases of their clients. The bench headed by Chief JusticeSaeeduzzaman Siddiqui and head JusticeBashir Jahangiri, JusticeNasir Aslam Zahid, Justice Abdur Rehman Khan and JusticeWajihuddin Ahmed as other members.[58]
As the hearing progressed at the Supreme Court, the legality and legitimacy of the coup became an important issue while Sharif's lawyers successfully argued for reinstating the writ of the constitution.Chief JusticeSaeeduzzaman Siddiqui along with other chief justices were in clear view of this coup as a "violation of the constitution" as Sharif's lawyers made a ground base for finding Musharraf of treason.[7]: 119–120 [59]
On 26 January 2000, Chief Executive Musharraf, acting on the advice ofSharifuddin Pirzada, quickly promulgated theProvisional Constitutional Order and askedChief Justice Siddiqui alongside other justices to take a new oath under this provision.[60]Chief JusticeSaeeduzzaman Siddiqui and other nine judges of the thirteen Supreme Court justices refused to take the oath which became an issue identified as the "biggest challenge" to the new government.[9]: 112–115 Eventually,Chief JusticeSaeeduzzaman Siddiqui and other nine judges resigned from their respected appointments, followed by a number of other High Court justices also refused to take the oath.[60]: 24 The Provisional Constitutional Order disallowed challenging any actions made by the military-led by General Musharraf, and many judges who refused to take the oath cited infringements upon the judiciary system such as this as their reasoning for refusing.[9]: 115 The Provisional Constitutional Order provided Musharraf legal protection of his actions in regards to the military taker over and bared any court in the country for taking any legal actions against Musharraf or those who were responsible for the military coup.[4]
Asma Jahangir, a Pakistani lawyer and human rights advocate, reportedly stated: "The military rulers are doing their best to erode the independence of the judiciary. I salute those judges who have refused to take the oath."[4]
On 9–10 December 2000,Chief Executive Pervez Musharraf unexpectedly issued apardon of Nawaz Sharif and allowed the immediate members of formerfirst family to travel toSaudi Arabia on a private jet provided by theSaudi Royal Family.[10]: 167–168 [11]: 73–74 Details emerged in successive years of this pardon that resulted in a forced signing of an agreement that put him in exile for a decade.[61]: 366 [62] However, this agreement was voided in successive years when Musharraf himself went to court to bar Sharif from returning to Pakistan in 2007.[61]: 366
In 2016, Musharraf later confessed in an interview given toKamran Shahid ofDunya that "he pardoned Nawaz Sharif from life imprisonment on the request ofKing Abdullah andRafic Hariri".[12]
On 12 May 2000, the Supreme Court of Pakistan courted by Chief JusticeIrshad Hasan finally legalized the coup but ordered to hold a nationwide election to restore the writ of the government.[63]
In 2001, General Musharraf issued theexecutive decree, of which, President Tarar was of the view that such decree was unconstitutional and illegal. Eventually, Musharraf forcefully removed President from his office when the latter forced President Tarar toforcefully resigned as president.[13][64] In the light ofSupreme Court's verdict, thenational referendum was held on 30 April 2002, allowing himself to continue his rule.[14][15] The referendum, which Musharraf won with almost 98% of the votes in his favour, was alleged by many, including theHuman Rights Commission of Pakistan, to be fraudulent.[14][15]
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International Pakistan andHuman Rights Commission and others had denounced thereferendum as extremelyfraudulent in 2002. TheReuters journalists claimed to seeballot stuffing and pressure to vote being placed ongovernmental employees.[15]Ibn Abdur Rehman, director of theHuman Rights Commission, dismissed the referendum as "farcical", also claiming that votes were stuffed.[15] The Amnesty International Pakistan and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated that the voting irregularities "exceeded its worst fears".[15]
The PML(N), backed by the Human Rights Commission, challenged the results of the referendum but Chief JusticeIrshad Hasan Khan dismissed the petitions while rejecting the challenge and upholding the results.[14]Information MinisterNisar Memon dismissed allegations of fraud as propaganda created by the opposition and stated that "Those who opposed the referendum preferred to stay at home and didn't create any problem."[14]
The credibility of the claims of illegitimacy is added when American Pattan Development Organization conducted a Gallup survey that founded that the "people are likely to elect either Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif as the next prime minister" in preference to President General Pervez Musharraf.[65] According to the survey, Musharraf had only 9% public approval as opposed to Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.[65]
In 1999, Lt. GenTariq Pervez, Commander,XII Corps, had ultimately warned Nawaz Sharif of a military take over if Musharraf were dismissed from the command of the military.[34]: 39 In thetelevision news media and the political pundits had long speculating of a military takeover in the country as soon as General Karamat was dismissed by Prime Minister Sharif, and General Musharraf himself had sent a secret message of serious repercussion if he was to be removed.[40]: 111 It is claimed by authors that Prime Minister Sharif had well political intelligence on Musharraf's intention and had soughtUS PresidentBill Clinton's help against the military intervention.[66]: 63–64
In 1999,Benazir Bhutto held all blames on Nawaz Sharif for the military takeover and criticized him stating "the man is violating every rule of law and, there is no-one to stop him."[67]
In 2002, Admiral Bokhari quoted that: he knew about General Musharraf's plans to topple [Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif and did not want to be part of these "Dirty Games".[68] Admiral Bokhari also noted that a power struggle between an elected Prime Minister and appointed-Chairman joint chiefs ensued and relations were severely damaged after the Kargil war.[34]: 37–38
Admiral Bokhari testified in media that: "The two men could not work together, both were preparing to take active actions against each other. I could see that there now two centres of power on a collision course".[34]: 37 At an informal meeting held at theNavy NHQ in September 1999,Chairman Joint Chiefs General Musharraf indicated his displeasure with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's handling of the country describing Prime Minister Sharif as "incompetent and incapable of running the country."[34]: 38 Admiral Bokhari firmly got the impression whether General Musharraf was sounding out to rely on the support from the Navy in events of the coup and Admiral Bokhara discouraged theChairman joint chiefs from doing so.[34]: 38
In 2003, Musharraf squarely blamed Nawaz Sharif for the military take over and held responsible for the martial law against his government while accused him of being an autocrat and weakening the might of the military.[69]
In a views of historian, Mazhar Aziz, the military coup d'état is seen as an "striking example in thecase study ofcivil military relations" in apost–Cold War era.[70]: 76
In 1999 and in 2004, Sharif extended his apologies to various journalists and reporters for any wrongdoings and worked towards mending better relations with influential conservative news media after his exile.[26][52] In 2001, the PML(N) and its rival PPP reached a compromised when the formeddemocracy restoration alliance in a view to oust President Musharraf.[71]: 58 Major agitations took place in 2005 against President Musharraf'santi-terrorism policy and controversial amendments made in the constitution.[71]: 58 In 2006, Sharif joins hand with Benazir Bhutto in opposition to Musharraf when both signed anagreement to restore parliamentary democracy in the country.[72]
In 2006, the PML(N) issued awhite paper concerning theKargil events and Nawaz Sharif personally apologized to former Chief JusticeSajad Ali Shah and the former presidentFarooq Leghari for his role and his party's actions.[73] Sharif also extended his apology to General Karamat and Admiral Fasih Bokhari for overlooking him for the appointment of the Chairman joint chiefs.[73]
In 2007, Nawaz Sharif with his family, accompanied by hisdaughter, returned to Pakistan with thousands of his supporters receiving Sharif family.[74] In 2008, Sharif spearheaded thejudicial activism in order to protest the suspension of Chief JusticeI.M. Chaudhry by Musharraf.
In 2001–03, the principalfour army generals, General Ehsan ul Haq, Gen.Aziz Khan, Lt-Gen.Mahmud Ahmed, and Lt-Gen.Shahid Aziz later regretted their role in bringing Gen. Musharraf in power when all four generals were forced out from their service due to opposition showed to President Musharraf's policies. General Aziz Khan was retired as a four-star general from the position of CJCSC in 2005 and was succeeded by General Ehsan ul Haq, who was retired as a four-star general from the position of CJCSC in 2007 (the longest service by any of Gen. Musharaff's closest generals). General Mahmud Ahmed was retired on 8 October 2001 as DG-ISI (The Day United States started its war in Afghanistan). General Shahid Aziz was retired in 2004 as Lt-Gen.[75]: 184 [76]: 156
On 17 December 2019, Musharraf was handed thedeath sentence fortreason by a three-member bench of a special court in Pakistan.[77]
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