ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday approved a summary appointing Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir as Pakistan’s first chief of defense forces (CDF) for a period of five years, a notification from the President House said. 

The development took place hours after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the summary to appoint Munir as the CDF and chief of army staff (COAS), sending the summary to the president for his approval, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. 

The CDF’s post was created under the 27th constitutional amendment approved by Pakistan’s parliament last month. The new position replaces the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), which was formally abolished on Nov. 27 with the retirement of General Sahir Shamshad Mirza. Under the amendment and subsequent changes to the Army Act, the army chief will simultaneously serve as the CDF for a five-year term.

The notification of Munir’s appointment as the country’s first CDF was expected to coincide with the abolition of the CJCSC post. However, when it was not issued on Nov. 27, it invited speculations of alleged tensions between the government and the armed forces. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif last week dismissed the speculation, saying the notification of Munir’s new appointment will be issued after Sharif returns from his trip to the UK “in due course of time.”

“President Asif Ali Zardari approved the appointment of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir as COAS concurrently as CDF for 5 years, and a 2-year extension for Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu from 19 March 2026,” the official account of Pakistan’s president wrote on X. 

“The president conveyed his best wishes to both.”

Under the restructured military command hierarchy, oversight of joint operations, multi-domain planning and inter-service integration have been consolidated in the newly created position of CDF, merging operational, administrative and strategic authority into a single role.

This means the CDF will be the commander of not just Pakistan’s army but also its air force and navy. As per the latest constitutional amendment, the field marshal and the president of Pakistan will enjoy lifetime immunity from criminal prosecution.

The 27th amendment, passed last month, effectively gave Munir five more years as Pakistan’s army chief and the CDS. His term will now expire in November 2030.

“On issuance of notification of the first appointment of the Chief of the Army Staff concurrently the Chief of the Defense Forces under this sub-section, the existing tenure of the incumbent Chief of the Army Staff shall be deemed to have recommenced from the date of such notification,” read a copy of the amended Army Act seen by Arab News.

This means Munir, who was appointed as Pakistan’s army chief in November 2022, will serve on the post for a total of eight years until 2030. Under the new law, he can also receive a five-year extension in tenure.

Pakistan’s opposition parties and rights activists expressed fears the new powers granted to the army chief will result in lack of accountability for the military and undermine the judiciary. Pakistan’s government dismissed the allegations, saying the parliament reserved the right to amend the constitution.