Asim Munir Formally Appointed Pakistan's First Chief Of Defence Forces
Munir will now have the absolute control over the country's armed forces.
Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir cemented his power after the president formally appointed him the country's first chief of defence forces (CDF) on Thursday.
The CDF position, created under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, will replace the now-abolished office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) chairman, which formally ended last month. The role would be a dual-hatted position combined with the office of the army chief.
Munir will now have the absolute control over the country's armed forces. He is only the second Pakistani general to appoint himself field marshal after Ayub Khan in 1959.
As per local media reports, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent a summary to President Asif Ali Zardari recommending the appointment of Field Marshal Asim Munir as CDF Thursday evening. Zardari soon gave his assent.
The president also signed off on the two-year extension in the tenure of Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu.
The military-backed Sharif government rapidly pushed the 27th Amendment through parliament last month, handing a wide range of powers and immunity to Munir.
Political Tensions
A day ago, former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan accused Asim Munir of intentionally "igniting tensions" with Afghanistan, and also remarked that Munir's policies are "disastrous" for the country.
The remarks of the 73-year-old World Cup-winning former cricketer, who has been imprisoned since 2023, were shared through his social media handle. This comes a day after his sister, Dr Uzma Khan, met him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail after more than a month, following "special permission" granted by the Shehbaz Sharif-led government.
"Asim Munir’s policies are disastrous for Pakistan. Because of his policies, terrorism has spiralled out of control that grieves me deeply," stated a post on Khan's X page in Urdu.
"Asim Munir has no concern for Pakistan’s national interests. He is doing all this merely to please Western powers. He deliberately ignited tensions with Afghanistan so that he could be seen internationally as a so-called 'mujahid' (Islamic fighter)," Khan said.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder said he opposed “drone attacks and military operations against own people in the country which he said would only fuel more terrorism”.
'Munir first threatened Afghans, then expelled refugees from Pakistan and carried out drone strikes whose consequences we now face in the form of rising terrorism,' Khan claimed.
Calling Munir a “mentally unstable man”, Khan alleged his “moral bankruptcy has led to the complete collapse of the Constitution and rule of law in Pakistan”.
