Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir was appointed Pakistan’s first chief of defence forces (CDF) on Thursday after President Asif Ali Zardari signed off on the summary recommending the appointment.
A press release from the presidency said the president also signed off on the two-year extension in the tenure of Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu and extended his best wishes to both military commanders for their upcoming terms.
The CDF position, created under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, will replace the now-abolished office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) chairman, which formally ended on November 27. It would be a dual-hatted position combined with the office of the army chief.
Earlier in the evening, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent a summary to President Zardari recommending the appointment of COAS Field Marshal Munir as CDF.
The prime minister approved the summary for the appointment of Field Marshal Munir “as the chief of army staff and the chief of defence forces”, and then referred it to the President House, said a press release by the PM Office (PMO).
Field Marshal Munir’s appointment for both roles is for a period of five years, the statement said.
PM Shehbaz also approved a two-year extension in the tenure of Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu, which will take effect upon the completion of his current five-year tenure in March 2026, the PMO added.
ACM Sidhu was appointed as the chief of the air staff in March 2021 and had been granted a one-year extension in 2024.
Officials and observers had expected the new notification to coincide with CJCSC post’s abolition on November 27.
On Sunday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the notification for the CDF appointment would be issued “in due course of time” and urged people to refrain from speculation over it.
The next day, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the government would issue the notification in the coming days, but that he was already “holding the office in all respects”.
Tarar had linked the delay to PM Shehbaz not being in the country, explained that notifying the new CDF is the defence ministry’s job, and they have to coordinate with the PMO.
Field Marshal Munir, commissioned via the Officers Training School Mangla into the Frontier Force Regiment, was promoted to three-star rank in September 2018 and assumed charge two months later, with his four-year term ending on November 27.
He served as Military Intelligence chief in 2017 and briefly as Inter-Services Intelligence chief in 2018, before being replaced within eight months by then-premier Imran Khan.
He later commanded the Gujranwala Corps for two years before becoming the quartermaster general at the General Headquarters. He has been serving as the army chief since November 2022.
5-year tenure reset
In the wake of the 27th Amendment, the ruling coalition made certain changes to the Pakistan Army Act 1952 (PAA), resetting Field Marshal Munir’s tenure as the COAS upon his appointment as the CDF.
Sub-section (i) of PAA’s Article 8A now states that “for the first appointment of the chief of the army staff concurrently the chief of the defence forces […], the tenure under this section shall commence from the date of notification of the said office”.
It explains that upon the issuance of the notification for the first COAS-plus-CDF, the “existing tenure of the incumbent chief of the army staff shall be deemed to have recommenced from the date of such notification”.
Under sub-section(iii) of Article 8A, the “terms and conditions” of the COAS concurrently the CDF shall be determined by the president on the prime minister’s advice.
Field Marshal Munir was appointed as the COAS on Nov 29, 2022, becoming the 17th army chief to assume the command of the Pakistan Army.
In November 2024, the government brought changes to the army, air force and navy laws, extending the tenure for all three services chiefs from three to five years, keeping the CJCSC’s tenure unchanged at three years. The same amendments allowed the services chiefs to be reappointed and/or their tenures to be extended for up to five years, instead of up to three years.
Hence, in line with the restructuring under the 27th Amendment, the recent PAA changes allow the president, on the prime minister’s advice, to reappoint the COAS-plus-CDF for another five years, or extend his tenure by up to five years, creating legal space for him to retain his position till December 2035.
Future appointments
The government rapidly pushed the 27th Amendment through parliament last month, but the notification setback complicated the transition to the restructured higher-defence framework, which military planners had hoped would be seamless.
A pending decision is the appointment of the commander of the National Strategic Command (NSC), a new four-star position created to assume the nuclear manager role previously exercised by CJCSC.
Officials believe this appointment will be made only after the CDF notification is issued.
The NSC commander will be appointed by the prime minister on the recommendation of the COAS “concurrently the chief of defence forces”, as per the now-amended Article 243 of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the National Command Authority Act, which pertains to the command and control of strategic assets, still requires amendment to reflect the abolition of the CJCSC and the emergence of the CDF and NSC commander under Article 243.
The changes are expected to be complex, particularly regarding the placement of the new posts relative to the Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy chiefs and whether the air force and navy heads will retain representation in the NCA once their strategic commands are subsumed under a unified NSC commander.
New organogram being worked on: law minister
Shortly before the summary was sent to the Presidency, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, addressing a press conference, said the defence ministry was working on a new organogram for the CDF.
He also dispelled any notion of differences over the notification, saying that the organogram was shared with the Prime Minister’s Office a day earlier.
Tarar said there was no ambiguity present over the changes in the military laws following the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
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