LAHORE, Aug 18: A strange coincidence! Two military dictators left the political scene in the month of August with a gap of only one day.

Gen Ziaul Haq, who ruled the country for about 11 years, quit the scene when he was killed in an air crash on Aug 17, 1988. And Gen Musharraf called it a day after staying in power for about nine years on Aug 18, 2008. Both had come to power after toppling the political governments.

Gen Zia had overthrown Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government on July 5, 1977, while Gen Musharraf had dislodged Nawaz Sharif on Oct 12, 1999.

Coming from different backgrounds, the only common thing between the two military rulers was that they had the same adviser on constitutional matters.

Then Senate chairman Ghulam Ishaq Khan had become acting president after the death of Gen Zia. Pervez Musharraf has been replaced by Muhammadmian Soomro.—Political Correspondent