Rafiq Tarar

Title & tenure

9th President of Pakistan (1998–2001)

In office: 1998 – 2001

Predecessor:

Farooq Leghari

Successor:

Pervez Musharraf

Biography

Muhammad Rafiq Tarar was a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan who was elected President in 1998 with the backing of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government, by which time the presidency's power to dismiss elected governments had already been repealed.

Achievements

• Served on the Supreme Court of Pakistan before his presidency
• Held office as President through the 1999 military coup, though with greatly reduced practical authority under the restored parliamentary balance of power

Key events

• 12 October 1999: Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf overthrew Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government in a coup; Tarar remained nominally President for nearly two more years under military rule

Legacy

Tarar's presidency is remembered mainly as a largely ceremonial post held through the transition from Nawaz Sharif's civilian government to Pervez Musharraf's military rule.

How it ended

Removed from office by General Pervez Musharraf in June 2001, who then assumed the presidency himself; died in 2022.