Roving Periscope: Pakistan discovers a Constitutional God—Syed Asim Munir!
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The Islamic Republic of Pakistan now has a new God: Syed Asim Munir!
Decades ago, when the South Asian country was America’s lapdog, its own people mocked their rulers: Upar Allah, Neeche Amrika (We have Allah up there, and America down here)! In this hallowed galaxy, they can now add one more demigod: Asim Munir, 57.
Barring Allah and the Prophet, he will now be the Supreme Leader of Pakistan’s armed forces, political establishment, economy, foreign policy, judiciary…and more, concentrating all conceivable powers of Homo sapiens on Earth. Legally.
Munir’s silent coup came through a constitutional amendment “duly” passed by a “democratically-elected” government—something the military generals who preceded him, like “Field Marshal” Ayub Khan, Yahyah Khan, Zia ul-Haq or Pervez Musharraf, could not do!
Munir will now be the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), over and above all top ranks in the armed forces. Amazing, because he is elevating himself for a second time, and higher, within six months of losing a war!
Perhaps the only military general in the world to promote himself as “Field Marshal” days after abjectly losing a mini-war—India’s Operation Sindoor in May 2025, Mullah Munir, Pakistan’s army chief—now enjoys lifetime immunity from anything he does, or does not.
The military-controlled ‘democracy’ in this nearly bankrupt country has wrought this miracle. Pakistan Parliament’s Lower House, National Assembly, passed the highly controversial 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill on Wednesday to this effect, after a brief, two-day-long debate, by a two-thirds majority.
The Opposition, led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi’s struggling political outfit, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ritually tore up copies of the bill and threw them towards the PM’s chair before boycotting the proceedings, the media reported on Thursday.
Munir’s lackeys in the Assembly, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, approved all 59 clauses of the 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill, completing the clause-by-clause voting process which aimed to create a new position of the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) to merge roles of chiefs of the Army, Air Force, and the Navy, and set up a constitutional court to strip the Supreme Court of many of its powers.
The key legislation was tabled in the National Assembly by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday (November 11) just a day after the Upper House, the Senate, approved it.
National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said the bill received 234 votes in favour and four against.
PM Sharif, his elder brother former PM and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari attended the Assembly session.
Tarar described constitutional reform as an “evolutionary process” undertaken with careful deliberation. He said the draft had been thoroughly reviewed and discussed with bar councils and bar associations across the country.
President Asif Ali Zardari is expected to rubber stamp the new act later tonight. He will appoint the Army Chief and the CDF on the advice of the Prime Minister. The existing post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee will be abolished on November 27, 2025, as Munir will now be the overall boss of all armed forces, including the army, air force, and the navy.
The Chief of Army Staff, who will also be the CDF, will appoint the head of the National Strategic Command, from within the army, in consultation with the Prime Minister.
The government will promote individuals from the armed forces to the ranks of Field Marshal, Marshal of the Air Force and Admiral of the Fleet. The rank and privileges of Field Marshal will be for life, meaning that Field Marshals will remain Field Marshals for life.
Munir, who was promoted to the rank of “Field Marshal” just days after the four-day conflict with India in May 2025, is only the second military officer in Pakistan’s history to elevate himself to the position, after “Field Marshal” Ayub Khan in the 1960s.
But Munir was not satisfied with controlling the guns, aircraft, and the ships. He also wanted more powers to control the judiciary which could upset his applecart.
So, the bill also proposed to set up a Federal Constitutional Court to deal with matters related to the constitution, while the existing Supreme Court would deal only with traditional civil and criminal cases.
The opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) had announced a nationwide protest movement against the proposed amendment, but it fizzled out. Mortally scared to speak out against Munir, the opposition leaders have restricted themselves to ‘protesting’ in the parliament and issuing diluted statements.
While debating it in the Assembly on Tuesday, Pakistan PTI Chairperson “Barrister” Gohar Ali Khan—Imran’s proxy—merely accused the government of attempting to “create another elite class.”
He also warned that “with the passing of the bill, democracy will only exist in name,” adding that his party “will not accept” it.
