Pakistan parliament gives chief of defense forces operational command over military

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s parliament on Thursday approved a new law giving the Chief of Defense Forces operational command and control over the army, navy and air force, formally setting out the sweeping powers of a post created last year in the country’s biggest military command overhaul in decades.

The Defense Forces Act 2026 establishes a new Defense Forces Headquarters under the “command and authority” of the CDF and gives the office extensive powers over personnel, joint operations and matters with strategic implications.

The position is held by Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, who serves simultaneously as chief of army staff and CDF under constitutional changes approved last November. The legislation was passed alongside an amendment to the National Command Authority Act, which governs Pakistan’s strategic command structure.

“The Chief of the Defense Forces shall have the operational command and control of the Armed Forces, and shall be responsible to the Federal Government for all matters relating to such command and control,” the act says.

The legislation provides the legal and administrative framework for changes introduced through Pakistan’s contentious 27th Constitutional Amendment, which rewrote Article 243 of the Constitution and made the army chief concurrently the CDF.

The amendment also abolished the office of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, previously the military’s senior tri-services coordination post, and placed the CDF at the top of the new joint command structure.

Under the act, the Defense Forces Headquarters will serve as the headquarters of Pakistan’s armed forces and operate under the CDF, who will also be the prime minister’s principal military adviser on national security, defense and all matters relating to the armed forces.

The law gives the CDF wide authority over military personnel.

Section 4 says the CDF may “retire, release, accept or reject resignation of, or discharge from the service, or retain in service, or relax age or service limit of retirement” of personnel subject to the laws governing the armed forces.

The powers do not extend to officials appointed under Article 243 of the Constitution, which covers the chief of army staff and CDF, chief of naval staff and chief of air staff, who are appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister.

The law says the new command structure is intended to facilitate “multidomain integration, operational cohesion, coordination and oversight” in matters involving joint, tri-services and strategic implications for the armed forces and national security.

It also empowers the federal government to frame rules and regulations to implement the act, while allowing the CDF to issue instructions and orders under its provisions.

The legislation was approved by the federal cabinet earlier on Thursday before being taken to parliament. The Prime Minister’s Office said it had been prepared as a continuation of the military command changes introduced through the 27th Amendment.

Parliament also approved amendments to the National Command Authority Act 2010, bringing the law governing Pakistan’s strategic command structure into line with the new military hierarchy. The National Command Authority oversees the country’s strategic organizations and nuclear command system.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar described the legislation in the National Assembly as technical in nature and said it had been finalized after consultations with parliamentary leadership.

The bills were passed amid opposition protests and a walkout in the National Assembly.
The Pakistan Peoples Party, an ally of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition, also objected to the manner in which the legislation had been brought before the house.