Pakistan has completed another stage in the consolidation of military authority around Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir — this time not through a coup or martial law, but through legislation passed by the country’s elected parliament.
On August 20, the National Assembly and Senate passed the Defence Forces of Pakistan Act, 2026, and amendments to the National Command Authority Act, 2010. The legislation was approved by both chambers and received presidential assent the same day, according to Pakistan’s parliamentary records.
The speed and manner of passage were striking. Dawn reported that opposition lawmakers walked out while the bills were being considered, and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari objected to the way the legislation had been presented. His party nevertheless voted in favour.
What the government presents as a technical follow-up to the 27th Constitutional Amendment is, in reality, far more consequential. Parliament has given statutory form to a command structure that places unprecedented authority over Pakistan’s Army, Navy and Air Force in one office.
The Defence Forces of Pakistan Act establishes a Defence Forces Headquarters under the Chief of Defence Forces and names the CDF the prime minister’s principal military adviser on national security, defence and all matters concerning the armed forces. More significantly, it gives the CDF “operational command and control” of the armed forces.
Munir is both Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces.
The Act also gives the CDF sweeping authority over military careers. He may retire, release or discharge personnel, accept or reject resignations, retain officers in service, and relax age or service limits for people subject to Pakistan’s armed-forces laws. The principal exception concerns appointments made under Article 243 of the Constitution.
That provision matters. Control over promotions, extensions and retirement is one of the most powerful instruments within any military hierarchy. Munir now possesses statutory authority extending far beyond command of the army itself.
The law is also retrospective. Although enacted on August 20, it is deemed to have taken effect from November 13, 2025. It further validates earlier rules, notifications, orders and actions that are consistent with the new law.
In other words, parliament has not simply created a new system. It has provided legal cover for a structure that had already been operating for months.
Munir was formally appointed Chief of Defence Forces for five years in December 2025, according to the President of Pakistan. In July, General Syed Aamer Raza became the first Commander of the National Strategic Command, another office created as part of the restructuring. Dawn reported that the new four-star command oversees the operational integration of Pakistan’s strategic forces.
The nuclear dimension
The National Command Authority amendment is particularly significant.
The official Gazette text replaces references to the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee with the “Chief of the Army Staff concurrently the Chief of the Defence Forces.” It also adds the Commander of the National Strategic Command to the National Command Authority. The amendment is deemed effective retrospectively from November 27, 2025.
Pakistan has therefore placed the officer who commands its army and all three services at the centre of a reorganised strategic command structure.
This consolidation did not begin in August. The 27th Constitutional Amendment of November 2025 had already transformed Pakistan’s civil-military architecture.
Chatham House wrote that the amendment “decisively shifted the dial in favour of authoritarian rule,” creating the CDF position, strengthening Munir’s authority and granting extraordinary protections to five-star military officers. The amendment provides lifetime immunity from criminal prosecution to five-star officers and requires a two-thirds parliamentary majority for their removal — even though an elected prime minister can be removed through a simple majority.
That asymmetry says more about Pakistan’s present power structure than official descriptions of “administrative reform.”
Even senior members of the government no longer conceal the nature of that arrangement. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif described Pakistan’s system as a “hybrid model” in which military and civilian leaders share power, telling Arab News that the model was “doing wonders.”
The judiciary has also been fundamentally reshaped. The 27th Amendment created a Federal Constitutional Court and transferred significant constitutional jurisdiction away from the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah resigned after its passage; Dawn reported that Shah described the amendment as a “grave assault” on the Constitution and accused it of subordinating the judiciary to executive control.
Munir without martial law
Pakistanis inevitably compare Munir with Ayub Khan, the country’s only previous field marshal.
But Ayub required a coup, martial law and a new political order to acquire his authority. Munir has reached an extraordinary concentration of power through constitutional amendments, cabinet decisions, presidential notifications and parliamentary votes.
That may make the present arrangement harder to reverse.
There is no martial-law proclamation to withdraw and no military government formally occupying Islamabad. Instead, military predominance is increasingly being embedded within Pakistan’s constitutional and statutory framework.
Munir now commands the army while simultaneously serving as Chief of Defence Forces. He exercises operational authority across the services, possesses extensive powers affecting military careers, and sits at the centre of a reorganised strategic command structure.
The question is therefore no longer simply how powerful Pakistan’s army chief has become.
It is whether the country’s civilian institutions still possess either the capacity — or the willingness — to restrain him.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Khaama Press.
