President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday gave his assent to three bills, including one for resetting the tenure of Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir after his appointment as the chief of the defence forces (CDF).
The president gave his assent to the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2025, the Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Bill 2025, and the Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Bill 2025. Notifications of the same were also shared by the PPP on social media platform X.
With his assent, the bills have now become part of the Constitution.
As explained by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar in the National Assembly (NA) earlier this week, it now means that the five-year tenure of the CDF will commence from the date of his notification of the appointment.
All three pieces of legislation, which were hurriedly passed by Parliament without any debate earlier this week, pertain to the contentious 27th Amendment.
The amendment, which has paved the way for the establishment of a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) and changes to the military leadership structure, has been heavily criticised by the opposition.
Under the new changes made to the Army Act, the expression “chief of the army staff” will be replaced with “chief of the defence forces” as per the 27th Amendment. Similarly, the expression “Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee” (CJCSC) will be replaced with the “commander of the National Strategic Command”.
Further, changes have been made to Section 8A of the Pakistan Army Act 1952, saying that “provided that for the first appointment of the chief of the army staff concurrently the chief of the defence forces under paragraph (a) of Clause 4 of the Article 243 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the tenure under this section shall commence from the date of notification of the said office”.
Another change pertains to the appointment of commander of the National Strategic Command says, “The prime minister may, on the recommendation of the chief of the army staff concurrently the chief of the defence forces, appoint the commander of the National Strategic Command, from amongst generals in the Pakistan Army, for a tenure of three years.” The proposed amendment also authorises the prime minister to “reappoint the commander…for additional tenure of three years and/or extend the tenure(s)…up to three years” on the recommendations of the CDF.
Under the changes, the appointment, reappointment or extension of the commander of the National Strategic Command, or the “exercise of discretion by the appointing authority in this regard, shall not be called into question before any court on any ground whatsoever”.
Further, the federal government may, on the recommendation of the army chief and concurrently the CDF and by order in writing, “authorise the officer appointed as vice chief of the army staff or deputy chief of the army staff to exercise and perform such of the powers and functions vested in the chief of the army staff under any law, rules, regulations, orders or instructions for the time being in force as may be so specified”.
Meanwhile, the changes to the air force and navy laws include the elimination of the post of CJCSC from their documents.
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