Editing Muhammad Rafiq Tarar (section)

{{Short description|President of Pakistan from 1998 to 2001}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Muhammad Rafiq Tarar
| native_name         = {{nobold|محمد رفیق تارڑ}}
| native_name_lang    = ur
| honorific-suffix    = 
| image               = Pride of Performance Award by President of Pakistan (cropped head).jpg
| image_size          = 
| smallimage          = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.-->
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Tarar in 2000
| order               = 
| office              = 9th [[President of Pakistan]]
| term_start          = 1 January 1998
| term_end            = 20 June 2001
| alongside           = <!--For two or more people serving in the same position from the same district.  (e.g. United States Senators.)-->
| monarch             = 
| president           = 
| governor_general    = 
| primeminister       = [[Nawaz Sharif]]<br>(1998–1999)
| 1blankname          = {{nowrap|Chief Executive}}
| 1namedata           = [[Pervez Musharraf]]<br>(1999–2001)
| taoiseach           = 
| chancellor          = 
| governor            = 
| vicepresident       = 
| viceprimeminister   = 
| deputy              = 
| lieutenant          = 
| succeeding          = <!--For President-elect or equivalent-->
| constituency        = 
| predecessor         = [[Wasim Sajjad]] (Acting)
| successor           = [[Pervez Musharraf]]
| majority            = 
| prior_term          = [[Wasim Sajjad]]
| order2              = [[Senate of Pakistan|Member of Senate of Pakistan]]
| appointer2          = 
| term_start2         = 1996
| term_end2           = 1998
| successor2          = [[Rafique Rajwana]]
| 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 1992
| 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|1929|11|2|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Mandi Bahauddin]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British Raj|British India]] {{small|(Now, [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Pakistan]])}}
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2022|3|7|1929|11|2|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Lahore]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Pakistan]]
| restingplace        = 
| restingplacecoordinates = 
| nationality         = Pakistani
| party               = [[Pakistan Muslim League (N)]]
| otherparty          = <!--For additional political affiliations-->
| spouse              = 
| partner             = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
| relatives           = [[Saira Afzal Tarar]] (daughter-in-law)<br> [[Attaullah Tarar]] (grandson)<br> [[Bilal Farooq Tarar]] (grandson)
| brother             = 
| parents             = 
| residence           = 
| education           = 
| alma_mater          = [[Government Islamia College, Gujranwala]] {{smaller|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}<br> [[University of the Punjab]] {{smaller|([[Bachelor of Law|LLB]])}}
| occupation          = 
| profession          = Jurist
| cabinet             = [[Nawaz Sharif|Sharif Cabinet]]
| committees          = 
| portfolio           = 
| blank1              = 
| data1               = 
| blank2              = 
| data2               = 
| blank3              = 
| data3               = 
| blank4              = 
| data4               = 
| blank5              = 
| data5               = 
| signature           = 
| signature_alt       = 
| website             = <!--Military service-->
| nickname            = 
| allegiance          = 
| branch              = 
| serviceyears        = 
| rank                = 
| unit                = 
| commands            = 
| battles             = 
| awards              = 
| military_blank1     = 
| military_data1      = 
| military_blank2     = 
| military_data2      = 
| military_blank3     = 
| military_data3      = 
| military_blank4     = 
| military_data4      = 
| military_blank5     = 
| military_data5      = <!--Embedded templates / Footnotes-->
| module              = 
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| footnotes           = 
}}

'''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}}; {{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|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 [[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 1992 to 1994 and as the 28th [[Chief Justice of Lahore High Court]] from 1989 to 1991.<ref name="BBC Pakistan Bureau">{{cite news |title=Tarar sworn in as Pakistani president|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/43645.stm|access-date=28 January 2015 |publisher=BBC News |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 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<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/despatches/55007.stm|title = BBC News &#124; Despatches &#124; Court rules in favour of Pakistan President}}</ref> and he was elected 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|title=Previous Presidents: Mr. Muhammad Rafiq Tarar|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}}</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 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 Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan|Thirteenth Constitutional Amendment]]. He surrendered his [[reserve power]] of dismissing the Prime Minister, triggering new elections and dissolving the [[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 President in 2001 in the wake of the [[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| date= 29 May 2003| 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 |date=21 June 2001 |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>