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basic refined structure to improve readability additionally and cleaned formatting

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{{Short description|Pakistani judge and president from 1998 to 2001}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[His Excellency]]
| name = Muhammad Rafiq Tarar {{small|{{Nastaliq|محمد رفیق تارڑ}}}}
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Pride of Performance Award by President of Pakistan (cropped head).jpg
| image_size =
| smallimage = 
| alt =
| caption = Tarar in 2000
| order =
| office = 9th [[President of Pakistan]]
| term_start = 1 January 1998
| term_end = 20 June 2001
| alongside = 
| monarch =
| president =
| governor_general =
| primeminister = [[Nawaz Sharif]] (1998–1999)
| taoiseach =
| chancellor =
| governor =
| vicepresident =
| viceprimeminister =
| deputy =
| lieutenant =
| succeeding = 
| constituency =
| predecessor = [[Wasim Sajjad]]
| successor = [[Pervez Musharraf]]
| majority =
| prior_term = [[Wasim Sajjad]]
| order2 = [[Senate of Pakistan|Member of Senate of Pakistan]]
| successor2 = [[Rafique Rajwana]]
| appointer2 =
| term_start2 = 1997
| term_end2 = 1998
| order3 = [[List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan|Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan]]
| appointer3 = [[Ghulam Ishaq Khan]]
| nominator3 = [[Benazir Bhutto]]
| term_start3 = 17 January 1991
| term_end3 = 1 November 1994
| order4 = [[List of the Chief Justices of Lahore High Court|Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court]]
| appointer4 = [[Tikka Khan]]
| term_start4 = 6 March 1989
| term_end4 = 31 October 1991
| predecessor4 = Abdul Shakurul Salam
| successor4 = Mian Mahboob Ahmad
| birth_name = Muhammad Rafiq
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1929|11|2}}
| birth_place = [[Mandi Bahauddin]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British Raj]] (now in [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], Pakistan)
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| nationality = Pakistani
| party = [[Pakistan Muslim League (N)]]
| 1blankname = {{nowrap|Chief Executive}}
| 1namedata = [[Pervez Musharraf]] (1999–2001)
| otherparty = 
| spouse =
| partner = 
| relations = [[Saira Afzal Tarar]] (daughter-in-law)
| brother =
| parents =
| residence =
| education =
| alma_mater = [[University of the Punjab]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Law|LLB]])}}
| occupation =
| profession = Jurist
| cabinet = [[Nawaz Sharif|Sharif Cabinet]]
| committees =
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}}

'''Muhammad Rafiq Tarar''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-Rafiq Tarar from Pakistan pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg|r|ə|ˈ|f|iː|k|_|t|ə|ˈ|r|ɑː|r}}; {{lang-ur|{{Nastaliq|محمد رفیق تارڑ}}}}; born 2 November 1929)<ref name="Rafiq Tarar Birth Place">{{cite web| url= http://www.urdubiography.com/politicians/muhammad-rafiq-tarar.html| title= Rafiq Tarar's BirthPlace| access-date= 9 January 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171010093725/http://www.urdubiography.com/politicians/muhammad-rafiq-tarar.html| archive-date= 10 October 2017| url-status= live}}</ref> is a [[Pakistani]] politician and a jurist who served as the ninth [[president of Pakistan]] from January 1998 until his resignation in June 2001, and prior to that as a [[Senate of Pakistan|senator]] from [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] in 1997. Before entering politics, Tarar served as [[List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan|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.<ref name="BBC Pakistan Bureau">{{cite news|last1=staff worker|title=Tarar sworn in as Pakistani president|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/43645.stm|access-date=28 January 2015|agency=BBC Pakistan Bureau|publisher=BBC Pakistan Bureau|date=1 January 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072110/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/43645.stm|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Tarar was born in [[Mandi Bahauddin]], and graduated with [[Bachelor of Law|LLB]] from [[University of the Punjab]] in 1951, before starting practice as a [[lawyer]] in [[Lahore High Court]] the following year.<ref name="Rafiq Tarar's Academic career">{{cite web| url= https://storyofpakistan.com/muhammad-rafiq-tarar| title= Rafiq Tarar's Academic career| access-date= 26 October 2019| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191020015958/https://storyofpakistan.com/muhammad-rafiq-tarar| archive-date= 20 October 2019| url-status= dead}}</ref> 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 [[Pakistan Muslim League (N)|PML-N]], but his nomination paper 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 Election Commission<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/despatches/55007.stm</ref> and he was elected as President of Pakistan in the presidential election by a margin of 374 out of 457 votes of the [[Electoral College (Pakistan)|Electoral College]].<ref name="President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar">{{cite web|url=http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/index.php?lang=en&opc=2&sel=4&pId=9|publisher=Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan|access-date=9 May 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425051615/http://presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/index.php?lang=en&opc=2&sel=4&pId=9|archive-date=25 April 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

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 his government as a judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan. As a [[head of state]], Tarar shifted Pakistan's system of government from [[semi-presidential]] system to parliamentary democratic system by signing [[Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Thirteenth Constitutional Amendment]]. He surrendered his [[reserve power]] of dismissing Prime Minister, triggering new elections and dissolving [[National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly]]. He also signed the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Fourteenth]] and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Fifteenth]] amendment to the [[Constitution of Pakistan|constitution]] that limited the powers of the presidency from [[Executive (government)|executive]] to a [[figurehead]].<ref name="The Constitution (13th Amendment Act)">{{cite book|title=Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan|year=1973|publisher=12th Parliament of Pakistan|author=12th Parliament of Pakistan|edition=13th Amendment|author-link=Parliament of Pakistan}}</ref>

Tarar resigned as a President in 2001 following [[1999 Pakistani coup d'état]].<ref name="Tarar in Daily Dawn">{{cite web| url= https://www.dawn.com/news/103995/tarar-claims-he-is-still-president| title= Tarar claims he is still president| access-date= 19 October 2019| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191019105045/https://www.dawn.com/news/103995/tarar-claims-he-is-still-president| archive-date= 19 October 2019| url-status= live}}</ref> 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 [[2002 Pakistani referendum|referendum]] held in 2002.<ref name="The Hindu">{{cite news|last1=Reddy|first1=B. Muralidhar|title=Rafiq Tarar forced to quit?|url=http://www.thehindu.com/2001/06/21/stories/01210002.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150128021108/http://www.thehindu.com/2001/06/21/stories/01210002.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 January 2015|access-date=28 January 2015|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=21 June 2001}}</ref> 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.<ref name="The Telegraph">{{cite web| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1310136/Coup-chief-declares-himself-president.html| title=Coup chief declares himself president| access-date=21 October 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021212044/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1310136/Coup-chief-declares-himself-president.html| archive-date=21 October 2019| url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life and education==

Muhammad Rafiq Tarar was born in [[Mandi Bahauddin]], [[Pakistan]] on 2 November 1929 to a Tarar family.<ref name="Rafiq Tarar Birth Place"/> Before Independence of Pakistan, Tarar was influenced from [[Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari]] and he took a part in political sessions of [[Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam]]. During his college years, he was also an activist of [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] and follower of [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]].<ref>{{harvtxt|Chitkara|2001|pp=118–119}}</ref> During the [[Partition of India|partition]] of Pakistan, Tarar performed voluntary duty as a relief worker in camps set up by [[Muslim Students Federation]] for Indian emigrants. He graduated with [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in [[Islamic Studies]] from [[Islamia College, Gujranwala]] in 1949. He acquired [[Bachelor of Law|LLB]] degree in 1951 from Punjab Law College, [[University of the Punjab]].<ref name="Rafiq Tarar's Academic career"/>

==Judicial and Political Career==

Tarar started a career as a lawyer, soon after completion of his studies. In 1951, he enrolled as a Pleader in [[Lahore High Court]]. He start practicing as an Advocate in the same court, later years. He established a [[Gujranwala]]-based legal aid firm in 1960s and excelled at advocacy. In 1966, Tarar started a judicial career after he appeared and passed the competitive exams to be elevated as session judge in [[Judiciary of Pakistan#District judiciary|District Courts]]. In 1971, he became Chairman of the Punjab Labor Court. Tarar was appointed as a judge at Lahore High Court, highest appellate judicial court of Punjab province, in October 1974.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.allamaiqbal.com/webcont/393/MuhammadRafiqTararelectedasPresident[1997].html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111091618/http://www.allamaiqbal.com/webcont/393/MuhammadRafiqTararelectedasPresident[1997].html | url-status=dead | archive-date=11 January 2015 | title=Rafiq Tarar's judicial career | publisher=Allama Iqbal Academy | access-date=27 October 2019 }}</ref>

Tarar served in the Lahore High Court as a justice for decades. He was also as a member of the [[Election Commission of Pakistan]] where he represented Punjab. He was appointed as the 28th [[Chief Justice of Lahore High Court]] where he served from 1989 to 1991 until his appointment as a judge in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. His appointment was made by then president [[Ghulam Ishaq Khan]] with the consent of Supreme Judicial Council. He served as a senior justice of the [[Supreme Court of Pakistan]] from January 1991 to November 1994. He was also an awaiting candidate of the [[Chief Justice of Pakistan]] but he retired earlier on attaining the age of 65 years and started a political career.<ref name="President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar"/> In 1994, following his retirement from judiciary, Tarar entered in to politics and started a political career as a legal adviser and close aide to then opposition leader [[Nawaz Sharif]]. In March 1997, he became a [[Senate of Pakistan|senator]] and represented [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] in the upper-house of Pakistan until his resignation in December 1997. He was nominated as presidential candidate by [[Pakistan Muslim League (N)|PML(N)]] same year and secured a historical victory in presidential election.<ref name="BBC Pakistan Bureau"/>

==Presidency (1998–2001)==
===Initial days===
After [[Farooq Leghari]]'s resignation in 1997, he was nominated as a candidate for the [[President of Pakistan]].<ref name="BBC Pakistan Bureau"/> On 31 December 1997, in an [[Elections in Pakistan|indirect election]], Tarar was elected by a huge margin,<ref name="President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar"/> getting 374 of 457 votes of the [[Electoral College (Pakistan)|Electoral College]] against [[Aftab Shahban Mirani|Aftab Mirani]] of [[Pakistan Peoples Party|PPP]] (a [[Pakistan Muslim League (N)|PML(N)]]'s rival) who got 31 votes, and Muhammad Khan Shirani of [[JUI(S)]] who got 22 votes. This was the largest margin in such elections. On his appointment former Prime Minister [[Benazir Bhutto]] delivered a speech in London to the Commonwealth Ethnic Bar Association and criticized his appointment. She accused him of being dishonest by saying "A former judge [Tarar] who dishonestly legitimized the overthrow of my first government was elected President of Pakistan. This same man stands accused by a former President [[Farooq Leghari]] of "taking briefcases of money" to bribe other judges in the famous 1997 case. The Election Commission rejected Justice Tarar's nomination for the presidency. Justice Qayyum, on leave for his mother's funeral, rushed back to grant a stay. And Tarar was elected. As for the bribery charges, Tarar, as a former judge, like former generals, is immune to prosecution in real terms."<ref name="Daily DAWN story">{{cite news|last1=Ardeshir Cowasjee|title=Benazir Bhutto criticized Tarar's appointment as a President|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1072352|access-date=22 October 2019|agency=Daily Dawn|newspaper=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|date=5 November 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021202357/https://www.dawn.com/news/1072352|archive-date=21 October 2019|url-status=live|author1-link=Ardeshir Cowasjee}}</ref>

===Constitutional Reforms===

Upon becoming President, Tarar was an unassuming and merely ceremonial [[figurehead]] who kept a low profile, and avoided [[Media of Pakistan|news media]], and he remained a devoted servant and loyalist of the Sharif family. He readily signed the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Thirteenth]], [[Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Fourteenth]], and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Fifteenth]] amendments to the [[Constitution of Pakistan|Constitution]] of Pakistan that limited the powers of the presidency.<ref>{{harvtxt|Jones|2003|pp=31–35}}</ref>

The President of Pakistan's powers had thus been slowly removed over the years, culminating in the 1997 [[Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan]] which removed virtually all remaining [[reserve power]]s, making the office almost entirely symbolic in nature as per the true spirit of the Pakistani constitution.<ref name="The Constitution (13th Amendment Act)"/>

===Resignation===

Tarar did not endorse the [[1999 Pakistani coup d'état]] by the [[Pakistani military]] which elevated General [[Pervez Musharraf]], [[Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee]], since he was an appointee of the [[Nawaz Sharif]]. The [[Pakistani military]] thus decided not to retain Tarar as the President for his full term of five years, given his partisan attitude. On 21 June 2001, General [[Pervez Musharraf|Musharraf]] who acted as Chief Executive in capacity, enforced the [[Legal Framework Order, 2002]]; [[Pervez Musharraf|Musharraf]] removed Tarar as he read the paragraph: "Mr. Muhammad Rafiq Tarar has ceased to hold the office of the President with immediate effect."<ref name="Tarar forced to quit">{{cite news|title=Rafiq Tarar forced to quit?|url=http://www.thehindu.com/2001/06/21/stories/01210002.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150128021108/http://www.thehindu.com/2001/06/21/stories/01210002.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 January 2015|access-date=31 May 2016|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=21 June 2001}}</ref><ref name="The Hindu" />

==Post-Presidency (2001–present)==

Tarar retired from the [[Politics in Pakistan|national politics]] and settled in [[Lahore]].<ref name="The Hindu" /> He retained a good friendship with [[Nawaz Sharif]] and is a close retainer of the Sharif family. His [[Affinity (law)|daughter in law]], [[Saira Afzal Tarar|Saira Tarar]], was a member of the [[Third Sharif ministry]], served as [[Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination (Pakistan)|Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://pmo.gov.pk/state_ministers.php | title=State Minister List—Saira Afzal tarar | publisher=Prime Minister Office Website | access-date=12 November 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124005952/http://pmo.gov.pk/state_ministers.php | archive-date=24 November 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

;Bibliography
*{{small|{{cite book|last1=Zakaria|first1=Rafiq|title=The Man who Divided India: An Insight Into Jinnah's Leadership and Its Aftermath|date=2001|publisher=Popular Prakashan|location=New Delhi, India|isbn=817154892X|pages=282}} }}
*{{small|{{cite book|last1=Chitkara|first1=M.G.|title=Indo-Pak Relations: Challenges Before New Millennium|date=2001|publisher=APH Publishing|location=New Delhi, India|isbn=8176482722|pages=254|edition=1|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr5IoddTKb8C&q=rafiq+tarar&pg=PA118|access-date=28 January 2015|chapter-format=googlebooks|chapter=§Muhammad Rafiq Tarar}} }}
*{{small|{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Owen Bennette|title=Pakistan: Eye of the Storm|date=2003|publisher=Yale University Press|location=Texas, U.S|isbn=0300101473|pages=342|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t8iYEgPYG_EC&q=rafiq+tarar&pg=PA36|access-date=28 January 2015|chapter-format=google books|chapter=§The 1999 Coup}} }}
*{{small|{{cite book|last1=Preston|first1=Ian|title=A Political Chronology of Central, South and East Asia|date=2003|publisher=Psychology Press.|location=London [u.k]|isbn=1857431146|edition=1|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TtwTXyM65J4C&q=rafiq+tarar+president+1997&pg=PA229|access-date=28 January 2015|chapter-format=googlebooks|chapter=§Pakistan}} }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=Abdul Shakurul Salam}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chief Justice of Lahore High Court]]|years=1989–1991}}
{{s-aft|after=Mian Mahboob Ahmad}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Wasim Sajjad]] Acting}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[President of Pakistan]]|years=1998–2001}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pervez Musharraf]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Presidents of Pakistan}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarar, Muhammad Rafiq}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of the Senate of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Pakistani Muslims]]
[[Category:People from Gujranwala]]
[[Category:Pakistan Movement activists]]
[[Category:University of the Punjab alumni]]
[[Category:Pakistani judges]]
[[Category:Pakistani jurists]]
[[Category:Chief Justices of the Lahore High Court]]
[[Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians]]
[[Category:Presidents of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Pakistani democracy activists]]

Muhammad Rafiq Tarar - Revision history

Tradeunofabrics: basic refined structure to improve readability additionally and cleaned formatting

->SUM1: Caption