Musharraf leaves military after decade as army chief
Hours after taking office as Pakistani civilian president Thursday, Pervez Musharraf promised he would lift emergency rule by Dec. 16 and would restore the constitution before January’s parliamentary elections.
Musharraf, who had served as president and army chief for nearly a decade, imposed emergency rule on Nov. 3 and has purged the country’s supreme court of judges who could have blocked his continued presidency.
Musharraf took his oath of office a day after fulfilling a long-delayed pledge to end his four-decade-long military career.
In a televised speech hours after taking office, Musharraf urged former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who have opposed his leadership and have recently returned from exile, not to boycott the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections.
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Brian Richardson
Reporting supervisors:
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd