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Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, better known as just Nawaz Sharif, (Urdu: ) (born December 25, 1949 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan) is a Pakistani politician and businessman. He was twice elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan, serving two non-consecutive terms, the first from November 1, 1990 to July 18, 1993 and the second from February 17, 1997 to October 12, 1999. His party is the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (Nawaz group). He is best known internationally for ordering Pakistan's 1998 nuclear tests in response to India’s nuclear tests, and the abrupt end of his final term in a dramatic coup by General Pervez Musharraf.
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Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, better known as just Nawaz Sharif, (Urdu: ) (born December 25, 1949 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan) is a Pakistani politician and businessman. He was twice elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan, serving two non-consecutive terms, the first from November 1, 1990 to July 18, 1993 and the second from February 17, 1997 to October 12, 1999. His party is the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (Nawaz group). He is best known internationally for ordering Pakistan's 1998 nuclear tests in response to India’s nuclear tests, and the abrupt end of his final term in a dramatic coup by General Pervez Musharraf. He is one of the richest men in Pakistan with a net worth of US$1.4 billion (2005). Nawaz Sharif is also currently a strong supporter of the free judiciary movement in Pakistan and restoration of Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmad.
Early life
Nawaz Sharif hails from a family that traces its roots to Shopian in the Kashmir valley. His father, Muhammad Sharif, migrated in 1947 (during the troubled Partition) to Pakistan from Amritsar, India. After independence Muhammad Sharif established a small tin shop on a bicycle which gradually turned into what was later known as Ittefaq Group. Nawaz was a part time cricketer during his early life, and played a first class game in the 1973-74 season representing Pakistan Railways. He also played a side match against West Indies when he was prime minister. During his premiership he used to play cricket only as a batsman.
He married Kulsoom Nawaz, who is the grandniece of the famous Kashmiri wrestler - The Great Gama.
Nawaz Sharif was educated at Saint Anthony’s High School and Government College (Lahore), and received a law degree from Punjab University. Following his education, he entered Punjab provincial politics, joining the Punjab advisory district council.
He initially joined politics in the late 1970s when he became a member of Asghar Khan's tehrik-e-istiqlal. He was then chosen by General Zia ul Haq, one of his admirers, as a finance Minister.
He became finance minister of Punjab in 1981 and also served as minister of sports. He was credited with increasing funding for sports activities and rural projects.
The Ittefaq Group saw its unprecedented rise during the time of Gen. Zia ul Haq, who promoted Nawaz Sharif to enter politics and be his right hand man in the important province of Punjab. This not only created a name for Sharif, but he was successful in etablishing the Ittefaq Group at the expense of the Government of Pakistan.
Chief Minister of Punjab
Nawaz Sharif began his first term as Chief Minister of Punjab province on April 9, 1985 under the Martial Law Regime of General Zia-ul-Haq, who was his political mentor. On May 31, 1988 he was appointed caretaker Chief Minister after the dismissal of assemblies by Zia. After the 1988 general elections which followed Zia’s death in a plane crash, he was again elected as Chief Minister of Punjab.
Prime Minister
First term
Sharif first became Prime Minister on November 1, 1990, running on a platform of right wing conservatives and vowing for an end to corruption. His term was thus interrupted on April 18, 1993, when President Ghulam Ishaq Khan used the reserve powers vested in him by the Eighth Amendment to dissolve the National Assembly and appointed Mir Balakh Sher Mazari as the caretaker prime minister. Within six weeks, the Supreme Court overruled the President, reconstituting the National Assembly and returning Sharif to power on May 26. Sharif resigned from office along with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan on July 18, 1993, after his feud with the president, who had accused him of corruption. Moin Qureshi became caretaker prime minister, and was succeeded shortly thereafter by Benazir Bhutto, who was elected to office on October 19, 1993.
Currency crisis
During the early 1990s, Sharif's administration failed to arrest the 30 per cent fall in the value of the Pakistani Rupee from 21 to 30 to the US Dollar.
Second term
Sharif returned to power in February 1997 with such a huge majority that the result was immediately questioned by Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Sharif won by obtaining 90 percent of the national votes cast. Doubts against the authenticity of the national elections always persisted and are nearly always contended by Pakistan's losing party. Tony Blair stated in a January interview that he "believed the election was true". Nawaz Sharif, therefore, holds the record in Pakistani politics for securing the heaviest mandate in a general election in Pakistan.
One of Sharif's first acts during his second term was to orchestrate the scrapping of Article 58-(2)(b) through another Amendment to the Constitution—an exercise in which Sharif’s party was joined by all the other political parties in the National Assembly and Senate. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan was passed so that the President could no longer dismiss the Prime Minister; and the Fourteenth Amendment imposed strict party discipline on members of parliament. This allowed party leaders to dismiss any of their legislators if they failed to vote as they were told and made it nearly impossible to dismiss a prime minister by a motion of no confidence. In effect, the two amendments removed nearly all checks on the prime minister's power, since there was virtually no way for him to be legally dismissed once elected. On November 28, 1997, the Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah of the Supreme Court was dismissed against revolt of other judges, orchestrated by Sharif's younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, and the Chief Minister of Punjab, Justice Rafiq Tarar. On this issue he fell out with President Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari who, now without the powers to act against the Prime Minister, also resigned. Rafiq Tarar was rewarded by his being appointed President of Pakistan.
In August 1997, Sharif signed the Anti-Terrorist Act which established Anti Terrorism Courts (ATC). The act was judged in 1998 unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (Merham Ali vs Pakistan). Sharif then enacted an amendment to the law to take into account the judges' critiques.
Nawaz Sharif's downfall coincided with his secular actions such as abolishing Friday holidays, distancing him from the conservative religious right wing establishment without taking him closer to the secular section, which preferred the PPP of Benazir Bhutto. Even now his frequent assurance to the west about continued cooperation is diminishing his popularity at home amongst the right wing conservatives who are looking for an alternative candidate to counter the secularist alliance of Musharraf-Benazir duo in the coming elections.
On the development front, Nawaz Sharif completed the construction of South Asia's longest motorway, the 367 km M2, linking Lahore and Islamabad. The motorway, which was initiated during Nawaz Sharif's first term, was inaugurated in November 1997 and was constructed at a cost of Rs 37.5 billion.
The peak of Sharif's popularity came when his government undertook nuclear tests on 28 May 1998 in response to India's nuclear tests two weeks earlier. However, after these tests, matters started going downhill. He suspended many civil liberties, dismissed the Sindh provincial government and set up military courts when the stability of the government was threatened.
Relations with the military
Nawaz Sharif principally rose to prominence as a staunch proponent of the military government of President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq during the 1980s, especially maintaining ties with Lieutenant General Jilani and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Rahimuddin Khan. His political career was further facilitated by the military's tilt towards his right-wing inclinations; ISI Director-General Hamid Gul having played a substantial role in the formation of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, the conservative political alliance that brought Sharif to power in 1990.
Despite this, Sharif's first term as prime minister saw himself fall out with three successive army chiefs: with General Mirza Aslam Beg over the 1991 Gulf War issue; with General Asif Nawaz over the Sindh "Operation Clean-Up" issue; and with General Wahid Kakar over the Sharif-Ishaq imbroglio.
It was under Wahid Kakar that Nawaz Sharif along with the then President of Pakistan Ghulam Ishaq Khan were forced to resign in 1992-93. At the end of General Waheed’s three-year term in January 1996, General Jehangir Karamat was appointed army chief. His term was due to end on January 9, 1999. In October 1998, however, Sharif fell out with General Karamat as well, over the latter’s advocacy of the need for the creation of a "National Security Council" in what Sharif believed was a conspiracy to return the military to a more active role in Pakistani politics. Before that Sharif dismissed the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mansur Ul Haq.
Jehangir Karamat was much later appreciated by Nawaz as a gentleman. Karamat later served as Pakistan's ambassador to USA under Musharraf. He, like other eminent personalities such as Tariq Aziz of the national security council and Manzoor Watoo, a former chief minister of Punjab and Rawalpindi corps commander who stormed Hafsa, has family members who are influenced by a Punjab religious movement of the late 1800s. None of the above claim to belong to that movement personally.
In October 1998, General Karamat resigned and Sharif appointed General Pervez Musharraf as army chief. General Jehangir Karamat was seen by many as a straight person who compromised himself and stood for the wishes of the Prime Minister. Sharif would later regret appointing Pervez Musharraf to the Chief of Army position, as Musharraf would lead a coup to topple Sharif's government.
Both Nisar Khan, a Nawaz league leader whose brother was defence secretary and Shehbaz Sharif claim they arranged Musharraf's appointment. Nisar was later interned.
Pakistan's nuclear tests
It was during this term that Pakistan carried out its successful nuclear tests on May 28, 1998, in response to the Indian detonation of five nuclear devices roughly two weeks before. The Nawaz government justified the tests on national security grounds, as they demonstrated Pakistan's nuclear deterrent capabilities against an armed Indian nuclear program. Under Nawaz Sharif's leadership, Pakistan became the first Islamic country having Nuclear Power and became the 7th nation to become a Nuclear Power.
The Nawaz Government proclaimed an emergency on the same day as these nuclear tests were conducted. All fundamental rights were suspended and all the foreign currency accounts in Pakistani banks were frozen to minimize the effects of economic sanctions. This move was not welcomed by all sections of depositors and further deteriorated the investors and people's confidence. The foreign exchange reserves fell even further.
The Lahore Declaration
In order to normalize relations between India and Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif undertook a major initiative in February 1999. This initiative culminated in a visit by the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Lahore via bus, across the Wagah border, in 1999. Nawaz Sharif met him at the Wagah border and a joint communique, known as the Lahore Declaration, was signed between the two leaders. The Lahore Declaration spelled out various steps to be taken by the two countries towards normalizing relations.
About the Agra Summit later Mr. Advani narrates: “We also noticed the absence of any reference to the Shimla Accord (1972) and the Lahore Declaration (1999) in the text. Musharraf seemed allergic to these pacts, as they were associated with his political rivals. He probably wanted to signal to his people back home that he wanted to start Indo-Pak engagement on a clean slate, all on his own terms and bearing his exclusive imprint.”
Kargil Conflict
The Kargil War in 1999 came to haunt the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It was an international embarrassment and he came under American pressure to withdraw his troops after they intruded into Indian held territory backed by a group Kashmiri infiltrators. India reacted strongly and ordered its troops to oust the intruders which resulted in heavy casualties on both sides. Nawaz Sharif under pressure from Bill Clinton withdrew his troops and the Islamist fighters unilaterally. Some believe that Sharif was responsible for initiating the intrusions — though he claimed that Army chief Pervez Musharraf was the brains behind the operation. In Nawaz's view Musharaf as Army Chief did not even take core commanders,air chief and naval chief in confidence before the operation. Only three generals were masterminds of the operation. In a recent interview, he admitted he ‘let down’ Vajpayee on Kargil conflict and also regretted not having taken an action against Musharraf. He also said that Musharaf then army chief requested him to visit America to ask India for ceasefire. His this claim is reinstated by General Gani(American General at that time) remark in his book. The retreat was not welcome in Pakistan and Sharif would later reveal that Pakistan had suffered more than 4,000 casualties. Growing fiscal deficits and debt-service payments, mainly due to American sanctions, led to a financial crisis. The government narrowly avoided defaulting on its international loans. With the country suffering from frequent power blackouts, Sharif directed the army in early 1999 to take control of the Water And Power Development Authority (WAPDA) of Pakistan, which had the adverse effect that many active and former military personnel were deployed as heads of civilian agencies. This trend continues to this day.
Proposition of an Islamic society based on the Quran
On August 29, 1998 then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif proposed a law to create an Islamic order in Pakistan and establish a legal system based on the Quran and the Sunnat. Sharif told Pakistanis that the proposed Shariat Bill was a charter of duties and not power. This came a week after Sharif informally announced the measure during the commemoration the late President Zia ul-Haq's 10-year death anniversary on August 17. On October 8, 1998 Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif presented the Shariat Bill in the National Assembly. The Cabinet decided to present the bill on October 9, after removing some of its controversial aspects.
The Pakistani government approved and passed the bill on October 10, 1998. After the vote, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said: "I congratulate the nation on the passage of the bill which will help create a truly Islamic system". The amendment, which was passed by the National Assembly by 151 votes to 16, was then passed to the upper house of parliament for a final vote. Two-thirds majority was needed for passage in the Senate, the upper chamber. On January 16, 1999 the Nawaz Sharif Government imposed Islamic law in the traditional tribal areas of the north-west straddling the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, vowing to impose it throughout the country.
However, the amendment would fail in the senate and before Nawaz Sharif would recover from that setback, his government was summarily dismissed by a military coup.
Military coup
- See: 1999 Pakistani coup d'état
With the public and press openly speculating about the possibility of a military takeover, Nawaz became increasingly insecure. On October 12, 1999, he removed Musharraf as army chief. Musharraf, who was out of the country, boarded a commercial airliner to return to Pakistan. Sharif ordered the Karachi airport sealed off to prevent the landing of the airliner, and ordered it to land at Nawab Shah Airport, but Musharraf contacted top army generals who took over the country and ousted Sharif's administration. Musharraf assumed control of the government. The Supreme Court validated the coup on the grounds of necessity. Thus ended Nawaz Sharif's second term, which saw resignations of a President, an Army chief and a Naval Chief and suspension and removal of a Chief Justice.
Nawaz was thrown in prison and tried by Anti-Terrorism Courts, which handed down a life sentence for hijacking in 2000. However, the military government agreed to commute his sentence from life in prison to exile in Saudi Arabia. His family moved with him, and they arrived in Saudi Arabia in December 2000. His wife and senior members of his party formed an anti-military coalition along with the Pakistan Peoples Party, previously the major opposition to Sharif's Muslim League. For several years, Nawaz and the PPP only offered token resistance to President Musharraf's government. Efforts were mainly restricted to criticism through the media.
Charges
Nawaz Sharif's government was deposed from office by General Pervez Musharraf, who later declared himself the Chief Executive of Pakistan, effective Prime Minister—as he did not immediately dismiss the nation's then President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar. Sharif was convicted of hijacking and terrorism after he blocked Pervez Musharraf from landing his plane in Karachi in lieu of dismissing him from his COAS post. The Supreme Court of Pakistan, under the Provisional Constitutional Order, declared Musharraf’s dismissal unconstitutional, as the COAS as a constitutional appointee is afforded due process before dismissal.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan, upholding the position of the Army, disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding public office and participating in Pakistani politics for 21 years and fined him 20 million rupees. A plea bargain and intervention of the Saudi royal family spared Sharif from serving a prison term; instead he was exiled to the Saudi Kingdom.
Corruption charges
While serving his soon-to-be-commuted life term in jail for the plane-hijacking case, Sharif was also charged, convicted and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in 'Helicopter case'. The allegation was that he had not shown a helicopter as part of his assets. That helicopter, though had crashed a long time back.The ?Accountability Court of Pakistan has also disqualified him from holding any public office for 21 ?years, and fined him 20 million rupees, about US$3,700,000.
Return to Pakistan 2007
On September 7, 2007, Justice Shabbir Hussain Chatha ordered police to arrest Shahbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif and produce him before the court, after the hearing in Lahore. The court ruled that "Shahbaz Sharif should be arrested (at) whichever airport he lands at". Nawaz Sharif also faced detention on the pair's planned return from exile to Pakistan on September 10, 2007, to challenge President Pervez Musharraf's eight-year military rule.
On September 10, Nawaz Sharif arrived in Islamabad on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from London but was prevented from leaving the plane as the authorities at the Islamabad Airport wanted to escort him to the arrival lounge. The rest of the passengers on board were allowed to deplane, and negotiations began with Sharif as he, along with his few supporters, did not want an escort and wanted to deplane themselves.
Sharif finally agreed to be taken out of the plane, and was taken to the arrival lounge and upon his arrival there he was approached by the National Accountability Bureau chief who issued a warrant due to corruption charges made against him. After that, Nawaz Sharif boarded another airliner to be exiled back to Saudi Arabia. "He has been sent back," a senior security official told Agence France-Presse, as local television showed a PIA airplane carrying the deported Sharif from Islamabad airport.
Later on September 10, Nawaz Sharif landed at Jeddah airport and was greeted by Saudi intelligence chief Prince Miqren bin Abdul Aziz. Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq stated that "He has not only embarrassed Pakistan but also the leadership of Saudi Arabia by violating the agreement." Although Nawaz Sharif had denied the existence of any 'exile deal' with the government before his homecoming, he later admitted that there was an agreement but that it was for only five years.
On presenting him before the Court, the European Union asked the Pakistani government to respect the court ruling. In Washington, D.C., Sean McCormack of the White House (joined by India) stated that the deportation was an "internal matter" but said that elections should be "free and fair" (but expressing mild disapproval of Pervez Musharraf's action). But the United States organisation Human Rights Watch accused the Pakistan Government of violating international law. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League condemned the deportation by filing a contempt suit in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. His brother Shahbaz Sharif was due to travel with Sharif from London but changed his plans at the last minute. On November 25, 2007, several weeks after the return of Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif was able to return to Pakistan. He was not arrested and, like Bhutto, was able to return to political activity.
A private television channel allegedly reported that Nawaz's media manager Pervaiz Rasheed seized tapes and intimidated their staff after Nawaz lost his temper in an interview. According to the director news of the private TV channel in a press conference, they had been held in hostage during an interview with former PM Nawaz Sharif. He (Nawaz) had also used unbecoming language against President Pervaiz Musharraf and PML(Q) top leaders while answering one of his questions.
Preparations for 2008 elections
Upon reaching Lahore, Sharif was supposedly greeted by a huge crowd of supporters. On November 26, 2007, Nawaz Sharif filed for the January Parliamentary elections. He handed in his papers in Lahore filing for two parliamentary seats.
at Party convention in The London Hilton on Park Lane, London, in 2007.]]
On December 3, it was announced that Sharif would meet former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to discuss a possible boycott of the January 8 elections. Mr Sharif had stated that his party, Pakistan Muslim League (N), would not take part in the elections unless the judges sacked under emergency rule were reinstated.
The Election Commission of Pakistan then banned Sharif from taking part in the January 8 elections. A rival candidate complained to the commission citing Sharif's criminal charges. The commission upheld the complaint. Sharif had until Friday to appeal against the ban. An election commissioner Raja Qamaruzaman told Lahore newspapers that His (Nawaz's) nomination papers are rejected because of his convictions. In the case of his opposition rival Benazir Bhutto, President Pervez Musharraf signed into law the amnesty early in 2007 that cleared Ms Bhutto of all corruption charges. However this amnesty did not clear Mr Sharif, having been sentenced to ten years for aeroplane hijacking and terrorism when he attempted to prevent the PIA flight carrying Musharraf and Soomro and a plane full of ordinary passengers in 1999 from landing at Karachi.
On December 6, Mr Sharif attempted to meet former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry but was stopped by police. Mr Chaudhry was forced to leave office after refusing to swear allegiance to President Musharraf and also the authorities are preventing him from leaving his household. Sharif told the crowd that he had come to show support for the judges and will not rest until they were restored. Coming off the heels of meeting with former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto both opposition parties were in the process of negotiating what they called a charter of demands which they wanted fulfilled if they were to take part in the January 8 elections. Mr Sharif wanted the re-instatement of the judges before the election takes place to be on the opposition's joint demands. However Benazir Bhutto claimed that this is an issue that parliament could address once the elections have been fought.
On December 7, it was confirmed by Nawaz Sharif that he would not appeal against the ban that was placed on him on December 3, and would not participate as a candidate in the January 8 elections. If Sharif appealed against the ban the matter would have been taken to the Pakistan High Court. Sharif said that he does not recognize this as legitimate because the judges were forced under the rule of President Musharraf. Sharif wrote to the Election Commission saying that he was being prevented from standing for political reasons.
Nawaz Sharif announced on December 10 that he would indeed participate in the January 8 elections. The PML(N) made this decision after he failed to make a decision with opposition rival Benazir Bhutto and her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP); the two sides complained that elections would not be free and fair under emergency rule placed by President Musharraf on November 3, 2007. Mr Musharraf announced that emergency would end on December 15, a day earlier than planned. Mr Sharif's party would participate in the elections after 33 opposition parties including Ms Bhutto's PPP failed to reach a joint agreement. Mr Sharif announced his party's manifesto being a single demand for the restoration of the judges sacked in November by President Musharraf. Ms Bhutto however said that this is an issue that the new parliament can decide on.
On February 16 2008 the initial last day of campaigning for Pakistan's political parties, Nawaz Sharif's PML(N) campaigned closely with assassinated former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's PPP and her widower Asif Ali Zardari.
Assassination of Benazir Bhutto
On December 27, in a CNN interview just hours after the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Sharif said:
Amidst the shock of the death of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Sharif had announced that he would boycott the soon-to-be-delayed January 8, 2008 Pakistani general elections. Sharif called for President Pervez Musharraf to resign due to the lack of security leading up to Benazir Bhutto's death. Sharif rushed to the hospital where Bhutto was taken to and comforted her supporters and sat next to her body. Sharif called Bhutto his sister and vowed to avenge her death.
A few hours before the murder of Benazir Bhutto, four of Sharif's party workers had been shot dead at Karal Chowk in an attack on a procession to meet him. Gunmen were unidentified. Nawaz Sharif accused Musharraf supporters of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML(Q)) of the killings.
Pakistani General Elections 2008
However after the death of Bhutto, Sharif met with Zardari and advised him to boycott elections. Asif Zardari refused the offer and offered Nawaz to take part in the elections arguing that the opposition parties would definitely win after this chain of unfortunate events in the country and mishandling of issues by the government. Nawaz accepted the offer and announced it publicly in a press conference. He gave the reason that in order to bring the President's government down the whole opposition must assemble and move in one direction.
On Monday, February 18 the PML (N) dominated the Punjab assembly and won 68 seats out of 272 from the National Assembly finishing second, directly behind the PPP (Bhutto/Zardari's party) at 88. However, after adding the reserved seats for women and minorities, total number rose to 91. The results became clear on February 19. His massive victory in Punjab was met by a festive mood. Later that day in a press conference he said that he would welcome the political leaders back to the parent party who had left his party and joined the PML (Q). Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto told February 21 2008 their parties will work together in the national parliament after scoring big wins in the 2008 election.
On Tuesday, February 26 2008, Nawaz announced that he and his brother Shabaz Sharif would run in by-elections upcoming in the country within the next few weeks, to become Members of Parliament, since they have no restrictions against them. the PML (N) left it to the PPP to chose a Prime Minister, since they agreed on forming a coalition government.
Nawaz Sharif has challenged the petition filed by the federal government against the acceptance of Mr Sharif’s candidature for National Assembly seat-121. Ashtar Ausaf Ali, former Advocate General of Punjab, is the lawyer representing Nawaz Sharif.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on June 27, 2008, won 3 and 2 by-election seats, respectively, to the national parliament. Polls were postponed for the 6th seat in Lahore due to Nawaz Sharif's eligibility contest. A court ruled he was ineligible due to the old conviction, amid the government appeal in the Supreme Court, which will hear the case on June 30, thus postponing the vote in the constituency. The 2 parties also won 19 of 23 provincial assembly seats where by-elections were held. The results will not affect the February 18 general election results in which Benazir Bhutto's PPP won 123 seats in the 342-seat National Assembly and Sharif's party came second with 91, while PML-Q which supported Pervez Musharraf came a poor third with 54 seats. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) won 8 provincial assembly seats, while the PPP won 7 provincial seats.
Reinstatement of Judges
Nawaz Sharif stated in Lahore that: "I want to inform the entire nation that on Monday 12 May 2008, all deposed judges will be restored; the national assembly will approve a resolution the same day." The judges include Iftikhar Chaudhry, Supreme Court Chief Justice, and President Musharraf sacked 60 judges under the state of emergency. On 12 May 2008 the day that PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif stated that the deposed judges sacked under President Musharraf's emergency rule last November, would be reinstated, Mr Sharif over the weekend beginning 9 - 11 May met PPP Partner Asif Ali Zardari in London to discuss, the deadlock and the official date of when the judges would be reinstated, but the meetings dissolved, with no agreement that both party officials could agree upon. Returning to Islamabad Nawaz spoke to media mogul Geo Television Network and announced that he is withdrawing his party members from the federal government and effectively resigning from the coalition government.
Resignations from the Coalition Government
On May 12, PML (N) announced it was leaving the government after its failure to reinstate the judges; its ministers resigned.
2008 Musharraf impeachment
On August 7, 2008, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) agreed to force Musharraf to step down and begin his impeachment. Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, announced sending a formal request or joint charge sheet that he steps down, and impeach him through parliamentary process upon refusal. Musharraf, however, said: “I will defeat those who try to push me to the wall. If they use their right to oust me, I have the right to defend myself." Pervez Musharraf, accordingly delayed his departure for the Beijing Olympics, by a day. A senior coalition official told Reuters: "Yes, we have agreed in principle to impeach him." The draft of the ruling coalition’s joint statement had been finalized by the draft Committee, and Musharraf must obtain vote of confidence from the National Assembly and 4 provincial assemblies. The government summoned the national assembly, or lower house of parliament, to sit on August 11. Capt. Wasif Syed, spokesman for the Pakistan People's Party -- confirmed: "A decision has been made that he has to go now, and all the parties have agreed on this point.".
On 18 August 2008, Musharraf resigned as President of Pakistan. He said he was resigning for the country.
Presidential election
Pakistan's Election Commission on August 22 announced that Presidential elections would be held on September 6, and the nomination papers could be filed from August 26. The president is elected by the 2 houses of parliament and the 4 provincial assemblies.. There was speculation that Nawaz Sharif would run for President, but on August 25, 2008, Nawaz Sharif announced that Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui would be the Pakistan Muslim League (N) nominee to replace Pervez Musharraf as President of Pakistan. Siddiqui was defeated by Asif Ali Zardari for the presidency.
Ineligibility to contest
In early 2009, Pakistan's Supreme Court barred Nawaz Sharif from contesting elections or holding public office, sparking widespread protests and disorder in some parts of the Punjab province.
Critics Opinion
Nawaz Sharif has also been viewed as a civilian dictator. During his rule that started in 1997, his "heavy mandate" was far to heavy for him to digest. He removed a Chieft Justice of Pakistan, A President as well as Chief of the Army Staff. On his second attempt to fiddle with the Pakistan Army by installing his family friend, General Zia ud Din, as the new commander, he was himself removed via a coup which initiated General Pervez Musharraf's rule.
Critics still suspect his stance on the dismissed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. as Nawaz Sharif himself has been dismissing and installing his own favorites when in government. On November 28, 1997 he had dismissed the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr Justice Sajjad Ali Shah as he was not one of his supporters. Likewise one wonders why he has been carrying double standards as his own party, under his orders, has attacked the Supreme Court of Pakistan numerous times to force his decisions.
The PML (N) under his command has never been a healthy opposition.
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