Pakistan Tables Military Service Law Overhaul, Elevates Army Chief to Chief of Defence Forces

Overview

• Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet approved amendments to the Army, Air Force and Navy Acts and presented the bill to align service laws with the Twenty-seventh Constitutional Amendment, including formal recognition of top ceremonial ranks.
• The legislation establishes a consolidated Chief of Defence Forces role for the incumbent army chief, with reports indicating a likely five-year term that could keep Field Marshal Asim Munir in office until 2030.
• The post of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee would be abolished after the current officeholder retires, with the cited date reported as November 27, 2025.
• The bill creates a National Strategic Command commander appointed by the prime minister on the CDF’s recommendation for three years, allows reappointment, excludes standard service-tenure rules, and bars court challenges to those decisions.
• Officials refuted a viral notification claiming new Vice or Deputy Chief of Army Staff posts under the Army Act as fabricated, even as separate reporting describes contested language about VCOAS/DCOAS tied to the CDF’s recommendations.