2007 Timeline

November 2007 Pakistan crisis and other important world events

President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf stood down as the head of the Pakistan Army on November 28, 2007. Musharraf came to power in 1999 by effecting a military coup d'état and he has been since actively supported then by western countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. In 2001 he appointed himself to the office of President of Pakistan and in aim to legitimize his presidency and assure its continuance after the approaching restoration of democracy, he held a referendum on April 30, 2002 to extend his term to five years. After surviving a two assassination attempt in December 2003, Musharraf won a confidence vote in the Electoral College of Pakistan, consisting of both houses of Parliament and the four provincial assemblies on January 1, 2004 and was as a result of this vote re-elected as the President of Pakistan. On October 6, 2007, he won an indirect presidential election by an overwhelming majority. However, on November 3, 2007, before a bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan was to decide on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of his re-election as president, Musharraf suspended the constitution, jailed several justices and lawyers of the supreme court and declared the state of emergency. On November 22, 2007, Pakistan's Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge against his re-election and on November 28, 2007, following the pressure for him to give up the army Pervez Musharraf stood down as the Chief of the Army Stuff and named Lt. Gen. Ashfaq Kayani as the head of the Pakistani Army.