President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday signed off on the summary to appoint Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir as the country’s first chief of defence forces (CDF).
A press release from the presidency said he 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 the two for their successful tenures.
Earlier in the evening, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent a summary to President Asif Ali Zardari recommending the appointment of Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir as CDF.
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.
The prime minister today 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.
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.
