proposal was met with hostility, and led to Nawaz Sharif's dismissal of General Karamat. In turn, this reduced Nawaz's mandate in public circles, and led to much criticism from Leader of the Opposition Benazir Bhutto. There were three lieutenant-generals potentially in line to succeed General Karamat as chief of army staff. Lieutenant-general Ali Kuli Khan, a graduate of PMA and RMA, Sandhurst, was an extremely capable staff officer and well-liked in public circles, but was seen as close to the former chief of army staff General (retired) Abdul Waheed Kakar; and was not promoted. Second in line was lieutenant-general Khalid Nawaz Khan who was popularly known for his ruthless leadership in the army; particularly for his unforgiving attitude to his junior officers. Lieutenant-general Nawaz Khan was known for his opposition and anti-muhajir sentiment, and was particularly hard line against the MQM. Musharraf was in third-in-line and was well regarded by the general public and the armed forces. He also had an excellent academic standing from his college and university studies. Musharraf was strongly favoured by the Prime Minister's colleagues: a straight officer with democratic views. Nisar Ali Khan and Shahbaz Sharif recommended Musharraf and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif personally promoted Musharraf to the rank of four-star general to replace Karamat. After the Kargil incident, Musharraf did not wish to be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs: Musharraf favoured the chief of naval staff Admiral Bokhari to take on this role, and claimed that: "he did not care" Prime minister Sharif was displeased by this suggestion, due to the hostile nature of his relationship with the Admiral. Musharraf further exacerbated his divide with Nawaz Sharif after recommending the forced retirement of senior officers close to the Prime minister, including Lieutenant-General Tariq Pervez (also known by his name's initials as TP), commander of XII Corps, who was a brother-in-law of a high profile cabinet minister. According to Musharraf, lieutenant-general TP was an ill-mannered, foul-mouthed, ill-disciplined officer who caused a great deal of dissent within the armed forces. Nawaz Sharif's announcement of the promotion of General Musharraf to Chairman Joint Chiefs caused an escalation of the tensions with Admiral Bokhari: upon hearing the news, he launched a strong protest against the Prime minister The next morning, the Prime minister relieved Admiral Bokhari of his duties. It was during his time as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs that Musharraf began to build friendly relations