Muhammad Rafiq Tarar

Muhammad Rafiq Tarar
محمد رفیق تارڑ
Tarar in 2000
9th President of Pakistan
In office 1 January 1998 – 20 June 2001
Prime Minister	Nawaz Sharif (1998–1999)
Chief Executive	Pervez Musharraf (1999–2001)
Preceded by	Wasim Sajjad (Acting)
Succeeded by	Pervez Musharraf
Member of Senate of Pakistan
In office 1997–1998
Succeeded by	Rafique Rajwana
Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
In office 17 January 1991 – 1 November 1994
Nominated by	Benazir Bhutto
Appointed by	Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court
In office 6 March 1989 – 31 October 1991
Appointed by	Tikka Khan
Preceded by	Abdul Shakurul Salam
Succeeded by	Mian Mahboob Ahmad
Personal details
Born	Muhammad Rafiq (1929-11-02)2 November 1929 Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab, British India (Now, Punjab, Pakistan)
Died	7 March 2022(2022-03-07) (aged 92) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistani
Political party	Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Relatives	Saira Afzal Tarar (daughter-in-law) Attaullah Tarar (grandson) Bilal Farooq Tarar (grandson)
Alma mater	Government Islamia College, Gujranwala (BA) University of the Punjab (LLB)
Profession	Jurist
Cabinet	Sharif Cabinet

Muhammad Rafiq Tarar (/rəˈfiːk təˈrɑːr/ ^ⓘ; Urdu: محمد رفیق تارڑ; 2 November 1929 – 7 March 2022) was a Pakistani politician and jurist who served as the ninth president of Pakistan from January 1998 until his resignation in June 2001, and prior to that as a senator from Punjab in 1997. Before entering politics, Tarar served as senior justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 1991 to 1994 and as the 28th Chief Justice of Lahore High Court from 1989 to 1991.^[1]

Tarar was born in Mandi Bahauddin, and graduated with LLB from University of the Punjab in 1951, before starting practice as a lawyer in Lahore High Court the following year.^[2] In 1966, he pursued a career as a jurist. Tarar later served as a justice in Pakistan's highest courts. After his retirement at 65, he started a political career as a legal advisor to Nawaz Sharif. Tarar became a senator from Punjab in 1997 and the same year nominated as presidential candidate by PML-N, but his nomination paper was rejected by the Acting Chief Election Commissioner. Barrister Ijaz Husain Batalvi assisted by M. A. Zafar and Akhtar Aly Kureshy Advocate, challenged his rejection in Lahore High Court and the Full Bench set aside the rejection order of the Election Commission^[3] and he was elected president of Pakistan in the presidential election by a margin of 374 out of 457 votes of the Electoral College.^[4]

Tarar assumed office in January 1998 with heavy criticism by opposition especially from former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who accused him of illegally legitimizing dismissal of her government as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. As head of state, Tarar shifted Pakistan's system of government from semi-presidential system to parliamentary democratic system by signing the Thirteenth Constitutional Amendment. He surrendered his reserve power of dismissing the Prime Minister, triggering new elections and dissolving the National Assembly. He also signed the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendment to the constitution that limited the powers of the presidency from executive to a figurehead.^[5]

Tarar resigned as President in 2001 in the wake of the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état.^[6] He resisted and did not endorse the 12 October 1999 military coup. He was forced to step down by then Chief Executive Pervez Musharraf and ultimately succeeded by Musharraf through a referendum held in 2002.^[7] Twenty months after seizing power in a coup, General Musharraf took the head of state's oath and became the fourth military ruler to become president.^[8]