No Chief of Defence Forces notification as key deadline passes
ISLAMABAD: As the crucial Nov 29 deadline expired, questions grew over the government’s failure to notify the appointment of the country’s first Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), a dual-hatted position combined with the office of the army chief.
The CDF position, created under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, replaced the now-abolished office of the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, which formally ended on Nov 27. Officials and observers had expected the new notification to coincide with the abolition of the CJCSC post, but Nov 29 was seen as a critical marker being the date on which the original three-year tenure of the incumbent Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, was set to expire.
Some legal experts had argued that without a new notification, FM Munir’s tenure could be interpreted as having lapsed.
However, a 2024 amendment to the Pakistan Army Act extended the tenure of the service chiefs to five years. That change included a “deeming” clause stating that the amendment “shall always be deemed to have been part of the Pakistan Army Act”, a formulation that legal minds say removed the requirement for a fresh notification extending the COAS tenure from three to five years.
Some legal experts argue tenure can be interpreted as having lapsed, others say no need for fresh notification after legal tweaks
Therefore, they contend, Nov 29 never constituted a legal cut-off.
Still, there is near consensus among security and legal officials that the creation of the CDF post, a new assignment rather than a continuation, does require a formal notification. Under the 27th Amendment and subsequent changes to the Army Act, the army chief will simultaneously serve as the CDF for a five-year term.
Therefore, several security sources, when contacted, said the government would have to issue a new, public notification assigning the CDF role to Field Marshal Munir, unlike the quiet extensions recently granted to PAF chief Air Chief Marshal Zaheer-ud-din Babar and ISI director general Lt Gen Asim Malik.
However, the delay is widely seen as a sign of unresolved debates within the highest levels of government. According to individuals with insight into the discussions, one point under consideration is which date would be taken as the start of the COAS’s five-year tenure: November 2022 when FM Munir originally took command or November 2025 as had been broadly speculated after passage of the new legislation.
Another sensitive question is the extent of operational and command authority the CDF would exercise over the Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy.
The government rapidly pushed the 27th Amendment through parliament earlier this month, but the notification setback has left top military leadership embarrassed and has complicated the transition to the restructured higher-defense framework, which military planners had hoped would be seamless.
Another pending decision is the appointment of the commander of the National Strategic Command, a new four-star position created to assume the nuclear manager role previously exercised by the CJCSC. Officials believe this appointment will be made only after the CDF notification is issued.
Meanwhile, the National Command Authority (NCA) Act 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 PAF and PN 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.
Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2025
