A referendum on allowing

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

to continue as President for five years was held in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

on 30 April 2002.Pakistan, 30. April 2002 : General Musharraf als Präsident für 5 Jahre
Direct Democracy The proposal was approved by 97.97% of voters. However, the referendum was boycotted by the opposition on the basis that it was unconstitutional. Although turnout was reported to be 56.1%, the opposition claimed it was between 5% and 7%. The poll was criticised for being "marred by gross irregularities" by the

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan ( ur, ) (HRCP) is an independent, democratic non-profit organisation. Founded in 1987, it is one of the oldest human rights organisations in the country. HRCP is committed to monitoring, protecting a ...

Background

Musharraf came to power in a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

on 12 October 1999. He initially referred to himself as "Chief Executive", before later removing President

Rafiq Tarar Muhammad Rafiq Tarar (; ur, ; 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 Punja ...

from office and assuming the post himself. Musharraf claimed that holding a referendum was abiding by democratic laws, despite the

constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's Pakistani political parties, opposition ...

not containing a reference to electing Presidents by referendums.Referendum 2002
Story of Pakistan

Conduct

The referendum was seen by many as a sham or fixed. Opposition parties including the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

and the

Pakistan Muslim League The Pakistan Muslim League ( ur, ; known as PML), is the name of several different Pakistani political parties that have dominated the right-wing platform in the country. The Muslim League (a different party) was the party of Pakistan’s ...

referred to the decision of Musharraf to hold a referendum as inappropriate and urged citizens to boycott the vote.Pakistan’s sham referendum endorses Musharraf as president
World Socialist Website In response, the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 and the number of polling stations significantly increased, whilst ID cards were not required for people to cast a vote.

Results

References

{{Pakistani elections 2002 in Pakistan 2002 referendums

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...