Pervez Musharraf Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
Here is a look at the life of Pervez Musharraf, former president of Pakistan.
Personal
Birth date: August 11, 1943
Birth place: New Delhi, India
Birth name: Pervez Musharraf
Father: Syed Musharraf Uddin, career diplomat
Mother: Begum Zarin Musharraf
Marriage: Sehba Musharraf (December 1968-present)
Children: Ayla; Bilal
Education: Pakistan Military Academy, 1961; Military Academy of Kakul, 1964
Religion: Muslim
Timeline
1947 – Musharraf’s family moves to Pakistan when British India is divided into India and Pakistan. The family settles in Karachi.
1949-1956 – Spends his early childhood in Turkey due to his father’s assignment in Ankara.
1964 – Is commissioned second lieutenant in an artillery regiment in the Pakistani Army.
1965 – Is awarded Imtiazi Sanad (medal) for gallantry during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.
1971 – Is a company commander in a commando battalion during the India-Pakistan war.
1991 – Is promoted to major general.
October 7, 1998 – Is appointed chief of army staff with the rank of general.
April 9, 1999 – Is appointed chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
October 12, 1999 – Leads a coup against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and becomes head of government. Sharif had previously fired Musharraf after the army’s failed invasion in Kargil, in Indian-held Kashmir.
June 20, 2001 – Appoints himself president of Pakistan while remaining the head of the army.
April 30, 2002 – A referendum is held on whether Musharraf will hold office for another five years; it passes by a wide margin.
August 2002 – Implements 29 amendments to the constitution, granting himself the power to dissolve parliament and remove the prime minister.
December 14 and 25, 2003 – Two assassination attempts on Musharraf’s life fail.
January 1, 2004 – A vote of confidence in parliament allows Musharraf to remain in power until 2007. He gains the votes he needs by promising to step down as head of the army at the end of 2004.
September 25, 2006 – Musharraf autobiography, “In the Line of Fire,” is published.
October 6, 2007 – An unofficial vote count indicates Musharraf has won by a landslide in a presidential election. A number of parliamentarians boycotted the vote in both houses.
November 3, 2007 – President Musharraf declares a state of emergency in Pakistan. He suspends the country’s constitution, postpones January 2008 elections, and imposes restrictions on the media. Government authorities arrest 1,500 people who protest the state of emergency.
November 28, 2007 – Steps down as leader of Pakistan’s army, the day before he is scheduled to be sworn in as president.
November 29, 2007 – Takes the presidential oath of office for the third time.
December 15, 2007 – The state of emergency is lifted.
February 18, 2008 – In parliamentary elections, Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, finishes third in voting, behind the PPP, party of the late Benazir Bhutto, and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
August 18, 2008 – Announces his resignation as president of Pakistan.
July 31, 2009 – Pakistan’s Supreme Court rules that Musharraf violated the constitution by unlawfully declaring emergency rule on November 3, 2007. The court gives him seven days to appear and defend himself.
August 6, 2009 – Refuses to answer the charges against him and flees Pakistan for Great Britain.
August 11, 2009 – Pakistani officials announce that Musharraf faces arrest if he returns to Pakistan.
October 1, 2010 – Launches a new political party, the “All Pakistan Muslim League.”
February 12, 2011 – A warrant for Musharraf’s arrest is issued by a Pakistani court, in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Bhutto.
May 24, 2011 – In an interview on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, Musharraf condemns the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He says, “No country has a right to intrude into any other country…Actually, technically, if you see it legally, it’s an act of war.”
March 16, 2013 – Musharraf announces his plans to return to Pakistan to lead his party in the upcoming elections.
March 23, 2013 – The Pakistani Taliban says that it will assassinate Musharraf if he returns to the country.
March 24, 2013 – Musharraf returns to Pakistan after four years in exile. He is granted bail in advance of his arrival in Pakistan, so he is not arrested upon return.
April 18, 2013 – A Pakistani court rejects Musharraf’s request for a bail extension and orders his arrest in a case he is facing over the detention of judges in 2007. Pakistani media reports that Musharraf has been placed under house arrest.
August 20, 2013 – A Pakistani court indicts Musharraf, charging him with murder in the death of Bhutto.
March 31, 2014 – A Special Court in Pakistan charges Musharraf with high treason.
April 3, 2014 – A bomb detonates a few minutes after Musharraf’s convoy passes through an intersection in Islamabad as he is being transported home from a military hospital. Pakistani police say it is an assassination attempt against Musharraf. No one is injured.
January 18, 2016 – Musharraf and two other former officials are acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader.
February 11, 2016 – After experiencing breathlessness, Musharraf is rushed to Pakistan Navy Ship Shifa Hospital to undergo testing. He receives treatment for complications related to a heart condition, according to his spokeswoman.
March 16, 2016 – Pakistan’s Supreme Court lifts a travel ban on Musharraf allowing him to leave the country while he awaits trial for treason. Two days later Musharraf leaves Pakistan in order to seek medical treatment in Dubai.
August 31, 2017 – A court in Pakistan names Musharraf a fugitive from justice in the assassination of Bhutto. Musharraf has been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2016.
December 17, 2019 – Musharraf is sentenced to death in absentia after a three-member special court in Islamabad convicts him of violating the constitution by unlawfully declaring emergency rule while he was in power.
January 13, 2020 – Pakistan’s Lahore High Court overturns Musharraf’s death sentence. Musharraf, who has been living in self imposed exile in Dubai since 2016, can freely return to Pakistan.
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