Ex-Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf Dies In Exile

• After suffering long illness in Dubai
• Body arrives Islamabad Monday for burial

Pervez Musharraf, the former President of Pakistan who ruled for almost a decade after seizing power in a coup in 1999, has died after a long illness.

The army general, considered one of country’s most divisive leaders after seizing power in coup, died in Dubai where he was on exile

The Pakistani military confirmed his death in a statement, expressing “heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of Gen Pervez Musharraf, former president, CJCSC and Chief of Army Staff”.

Musharraf, 79, was dubbed by many critics as one of Pakistan’s most disruptive president whose rule despite being marked by oppression, human rights abuses and a weakening of democracy, also witnessed a period of economic growth.

In 2019, a Special Court found Musharraf guilty of high treason for his actions as president, including suspending the constitution in 2007. In the process, he was sentenced to death but that judgment was later overturned.

Since 2016, he had lived in exile between the United Kingdom (UK) and the Middle East after being allowed to leave Pakistan for medical treatment abroad.

Musharraf had amyloidosis, a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein builds up in organs and interferes with normal functions. He was admitted to hospital in the UAE last year.

The 79-year-old former military despot had expressed a desire to return to Pakistan and spend the “rest of his life” in his home country, but that request was met with fierce resistance by politicians and members of the public.

However, reports indicated that Musharraf’s body will be flown back to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital for burial on Monday.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, whose brother, the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was overthrown and imprisoned by Musharraf when he seized power in 1999, tweeted a short message offering his “Condolences to the family of General Pervez Musharraf (rtd). May the departed soul rest in peace.”

Musharraf was born in pre-partition Delhi and his family moved to Karachi after 1947. He quickly rose through the ranks of the army and was Pakistan’s top military general when he led a bloodless coup against the Nawaz Sharif government.

After seizing power, he suspended the constitution, declared a state of emergency and designated himself the “Chief Executive”. Under the new military rule, Nawaz Sharif was put on trial for treason and forced into exile to Saudi Arabia.

In 2001, Musharraf formally appointed himself President and oversaw several changes to Pakistan’s constitution. Over the course of the next seven years, civil and democratic institutions in the country were eroded while the military’s control over politics was even more deeply entrenched.

After the 9/11 attacks, Musharraf became known for allying closely with the United States (US) on its War on Terror and was once described by President George W Bush as a “courageous leader and friend of the United States”.

However, his support for the US invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan to topple the Taliban and fight extremism from Pakistani soil would prove deeply unpopular after it led to heavy civilian casualties and left a lasting legacy of anti-western sentiment in the country.

According to Musharraf, the Bush administration had threatened to “bomb Pakistan back to the stone age” if the country did not cooperate with America’s war on Afghanistan.

As Musharraf began to lose support around 2007, his rule became even more draconian. He suspended the constitution again, imposed martial law, sacked the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and arrested activists and lawyers, prompting mass protests.

After the assassination of the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who had returned to Pakistan to fight Musharraf in the election, the national mood soured even more and calls began to grow for him to be impeached. Sensing danger ahead, he quickly resigned in 2008 and was forced into exile.

In his bid to return to power, Musharraf returned to Pakistan in 2013 but was disqualified for life from running and faced an arrest warrant for his alleged involvement in the assassination of Bhutto.

He was put on trial for treason but the country’s powerful military establishment allowed him to leave the country in 2016 on medical grounds. In 2019, he was found guilty in absentia and sentenced to death for treason, but a court later nullified the ruling.

The response to his death in Pakistan was muted, with many senior figures refraining from commenting on his complex legacy out of respect.