RAWALPINDI: Following his appointment as Pakistan’s first chief of defence forces (CDF), Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir received a guard of honour at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Monday.
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf and Chief of the Air Staff Zaheer Ahmad Babar also attended the ceremony.
State broadcaster PTV reported that contingents from all three services presented the guard of honour to the army chief in recognition of his elevation to the CDF role.
Munir’s notification as the country’s inaugural CDF on Friday marked the most significant restructuring of Pakistan’s military command since the 1970s. The overhaul centralises operational, administrative, and strategic powers in a single office created through amendments to Article 243 of the Constitution under the 27th Amendment.
Under the revised Article 243, the president acting on the prime minister’s advice appoints the chief of the army staff, who simultaneously serves as the chief of defence forces. The amendment also eliminated the position of chairman joint chiefs of staff committee (CJCSC), ending the tri-service coordination model functioning since 1976 and transferring joint command responsibilities to the CDF.
To align the constitutional changes with military law, the government updated the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) of 1952 after the 27th Amendment. Sub-section (i) of Article 8A now states that “for the first appointment of the chief of the army staff concurrently the chief of the defence forces […], the tenure under this section shall commence from the date of notification of the said office”. It further clarifies that once the first COAS-plus-CDF is notified, the “existing tenure of the incumbent chief of the army staff shall be deemed to have recommenced from the date of such notification”.
Sub-section (iii) adds that the “terms and conditions” for the COAS serving concurrently as CDF will be set by the president on the prime minister’s advice.
Field Marshal Munir became the 17th army chief on Nov 29, 2022. In November 2024, changes to the PAA extended the tenure of all three service chiefs from three to five years, while retaining the CJCSC’s three-year term. The amendments also enabled reappointment or extensions of up to five years, instead of the previous limit of three.
As a result, under the 27th Amendment framework and the updated PAA, the president with the prime minister’s advice may reappoint or extend the tenure of the COAS-plus-CDF for up to five years, allowing the possibility for Munir to remain in office until December 2035.
