Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Sunday stated that the notification regarding the appointment of the Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) will be issued “in due course”, the process of which had already begun.
“We inform you that the process has been initiated. The Prime Minister will return shortly. The notification will be issued in due time,” Asif said in a post on social media platform X.
The CDF position, created under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, replaced the now abolished position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), which formally term on November 27. It will be a dual role position combined with the position of army chief.
Officials and observers had hoped that the new notification would coincide with the abolition of the CJCSC post, but November 29 was seen as a critical marker, being the date on which the original three-year term of the current Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Field Marshal, was completed. Asim Munirwas about to expire.
Asif’s statement came as the date of November 29 passed without any notification being issued to formally appoint the country’s first CDF.
His statement implies that the notification will be issued when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif returns to the country, who is reportedly currently visiting London for medical check-ups.
Some legal experts had argued that without fresh notification, Field Marshal Munir’s term could be interpreted as having expired.
However, a 2024 amendment to the Pakistan Army Act extended the tenure of service chiefs to five years. That change included a “deeming” clause stating that the amendment “shall always be deemed to be part of the Pakistan Army Act”, a formulation that legal experts said removed the requirement for a fresh notification extending the tenure of the COAS from three to five years.
Still, there is near consensus among legal and security officials that the creation of the CDF position, a new assignment rather than a continuation, requires formal notification. under the 27th amendment and subsequent changes to the Army Law, the army chief will simultaneously serve as CDF for a period of five years.
Therefore, several security sources, when contacted by Sunrise Earlier, he said the government would have to issue a new public notification assigning the CDF role to Field Marshal Munir.
The delay in issuance of the notification has also been widely seen as a sign of unresolved debates at the highest levels of the government. According to people with knowledge of the discussions, one point that has been considered is what date will be taken as the start of the COAS’s five-year mandate: November 2022, when Field Marshal Munir originally assumed command, or November 2025, as had been widely speculated after the passage of the new legislation.
Another sensitive issue that has been raised concerns the extent of command and operational authority that the CDF would exercise over the Pakistan Air Force and Navy.
The government quickly pushed the 27th Amendment through parliament earlier this month, but the setback in notification has left senior military leaders embarrassed and complicated the transition to the restructured higher defense framework, which military planners had hoped would be seamless.
Another pending decision has been the appointment of the commander of the National Strategic Command, a new four-star position created to assume the role of nuclear manager previously carried out by the CJCSC. Officials believe that this appointment will be made only after the CDF notification is issued.
