Musharraf spent most of Monday’s hour-long speech leading to his resignation as president defending his achievements since he seized power in a military coup nine years ago, saying that impeachment charges against him were false.

But while the United States and other allies praised his contribution to the fight against al-Qaida and Taliban militants, analysts said his determination to cling to power had caused lasting damage to Pakistan.

“He is leaving behind a very complex and troubling legacy for Pakistan,” said Rasul Baksh Rais, an analyst at Lahore’s elite University of Management Sciences.

“Distortion of the constitution, manufactured political groups that supported him, insurgency in Afghanistan, Talibanization in the northwestern frontier region and a structurally weak economy all count against him,” he said.

Musharraf justified his 1999 coup by saying that nuclear-armed Pakistan was on the verge of being declared a terrorist state and an economic basket case after the chaotic rule of then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

He then abandoned Pakistan’s support for Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban regime and joined the U.S.-led “war on terror” after the September 11, 2001 attacks, bringing an influx of U.S. aid money into the country.

In the first years of his rule, analysts said that despite constitutional maneuvers to stay in power, Pakistan was on the up, recording record economic growth for several years and creating a new, richer middle class.

Musharraf also took on two previous pillars of the Pakistani security establishment’s identity — decades of rivalry with India and support for jihadi fighters in the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir, they said.

“These are the two enduring legacies of Musharraf,” said Najam Sethi, editor of the respected Daily Times newspaper and a political commentator.

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