Early 2000s (decade) in Exile
By the end of 1990s, the one-time populist prime minister Nawaz Sharif had became widely unpopular, and following the military coup, Sharif's credibility, image, and even his career was destroyed by General Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan. Musharraf formed the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) in order to politically banish the former prime minister's party support in Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh, Khyber, and Kashmir Provinces. The Pakistan Muslim League (Q) had consisted of those who were initially part of the former prime minister's party but then moved with Musharraf in order to avoid prosecution and going to jail. The year of 2000 brought positive changes for Benazir Bhutto who widely became unpopular in Pakistan in 1996. In the 2000s decade, following the declassification of secret Hamoodur Rahman Commission's papers and other secret documents of 1970s, Benazir Bhutto's support in Pakistan began to rally. Her image in the country widely became positive and People's Party seemed to be coming back in the government soon the new elections were scheduled to take place. Amid fear of coming back of Benazir Bhutto threatened Pervez Musharraf, therefore, Musharraf released many of the political prisoners of the liberal-secular force, the Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM). Musharraf saw MQM as the vital political weapon of holding back of Pakistan Peoples Party. But, MQM had only support in Karachi at that time, and lacked its support to urban areas of Sindh, which remained a vital threat for Musharraf.
Therefore, in 2002, Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf amended Pakistan's constitution to ban prime ministers from serving more than two terms, fearing the comeback of Benazir Bhutto. This disqualified Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif from ever holding the office again. This move was widely considered to be a direct attack on former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. On 3 August 2003, Bhutto became a member of Minhaj ul Quran International (an international Muslim educational and welfare organisation).
Read more about this topic: Benazir Bhutto
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