The Shehbaz Sharif government has formally appointed Field Marshal Asim Munir as Pakistan's first-ever Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), a newly created and powerful military position in a nuclear-armed country. The appointment -- which puts Munir at the helm of all three services -- is for a period of five years.
The Pakistan President's office said in an X post that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's summary recommending Munir for both Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) was approved.
"President Asif Ali Zardari approved the appointment of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir as COAS concurrently as CDF for 5 years," the official X handle of the President of Pakistan said in the post.
Munir Gets Pakistan's Nuke Button
The CDF position not only consolidates authority over all three service branches (Army, Navy, and Air Force) but also gives him oversight of the National Strategic Command, which manages the country's nuclear weapons and missile systems, making Munir the single most powerful military figure in the country.
The new position also gave Munir legal cover equivalent to that of the country's president. The field marshal, like the president, will be granted lifelong immunity from any legal prosecution. The protection has also been extended to the air force and navy chiefs.
If, at the end of that time, he tells the prime minister and president that he wishes to be reappointed, it is unlikely they will deny him that, given the power they have already granted him.
The amendments also reduce the government's oversight over the military. According to Pakistani media reports, the CDF will now have the power to recommend the appointment to the position of Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS), which will then be authorised by the federal government. Earlier, the civil government had the executive's prerogative to make these appointments.
Pak's Military Past
A nuclear power of 240 million people, Pakistan has ebbed and flowed between civilian and military rule since its creation in 1947. The last military leader to openly govern the country was Pervez Musharraf, who seized power through a coup in 1999 and served as president until 2008.
Since then, civilian administrations have officially held power. However, the military's influence over Pakistan's political and economic spheres remains deeply entrenched, with political watchers calling it a "hybrid rule" shared between the two.
The appointment comes after a lot of speculation over Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's willingness to hand over more power to Asim Munir. The Sharif government was supposed to announce the appointment of the country's first Chief of Defence Forces on November 29, the day Munir's three-year term as army chief was set to end.
The Chief of Defence Forces' role was established last month under the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, aiming to centralise military command. The new position replaces the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), which has now been abolished.
Asim Munir, who was promoted to the Field Marshal rank this year, will also simultaneously hold the office of the Chief of Army Staff, along with his duties as CDF, making him one of the most powerful men in Pakistan in decades.
He is the first military officer in Pakistan's history to hold both the five-star rank of Field Marshal and the combined command of COAS and CDF simultaneously. He is the second army officer in the country's history to hold the Field Marshal title after General Ayub Khan, who led Pakistan during the 1965 war with India.
