Pak seeks to amend constitution to give Asim Munir more power; protests erupt

Months after Operation Sindoor, Pakistan on Saturday (November 8) sought a constitutional amendment to create a new post of Chief of Defence Forces to ensure greater coordination and unified command among the three services. Reportedly, this decision has been made after the lessons drawn from the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May and the evolving nature of modern warfare that demands an integrated operational response.

According to the amendment bill, the Chief of Army Staff (currently Field Marshal Asim Munir) will also act as the Chief of Defence Forces. The Chief of Defence Forces will appoint the head of the National Strategic Command from the Pakistan Army, in consultation with the prime minister. The government will be able to promote individuals from the armed forces to the ranks of Field Marshal, Marshal of the Air Force, and Admiral of the Fleet. Once selected, a Field Marshal will remain a Field Marshal for life.

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In addition to that, the post of Chairman and Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee will stop functioning from November 27, 2025. However, the Opposition has slammed the move and alleged that this amendment will shake "the foundations of the Constitution” and announced nationwide protests from November 9.

Sindoor effect

Chains of higher-level changes have been occurring in Pakistan after Operation Sindoor. In response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, India launched the joint military operation on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistani territories.

The 27th Constitutional Amendment bill was presented in the Pakistan Parliament on Saturday, proposing changes to Article 243 and Article 175, which deal with the armed forces and the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, respectively. If enacted, the President will appoint the Army Chief and the Chief of Defence Forces on the advice of the Prime Minister.

According to state-run PTV News, before the Senate session, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the cabinet meeting via video link from Azerbaijan and approved the Amendment draft. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar presented the bill in the Senate, the upper house, after it was approved by the cabinet, on November 8. Tarar said the bill had three main areas, two ancillaries, with 49 clauses.

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Debate and demands

While Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gillani referred the bill to the Standing Committees for review and consideration before it was taken up for voting, leaders from the Opposition vehemently opposed the bill as the seat of the leader of the opposition has been vacant in the Parliament.

Gillani said that both Standing Committees on Law and Justice may hold joint meetings for a detailed review and consideration, and the report would be presented before the House. The committee chairman, Farooq Naek, told the media that they would complete the task by creating consensus among the members.

A joint meeting of the Senate and National Assembly Committees on Law & Justice, co-chaired by Senator Farooq H. Naek and Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk, MNA, was held to consider the Constitution (Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2025. Deliberations to continue tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/TtDpFHMJms

— ꜱᴇɴᴀᴛᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴘᴀᴋɪꜱᴛᴀɴ 🇵🇰 (@SenatePakistan) November 8, 2025

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However, Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Zafar said that debating the constitutional amendment was not appropriate when the leader of the opposition’s seat remained vacant and alleged that the government and its allied parties appeared to be in a hurry to pass the bill.

“I suggest that, instead of sending it to the committee, let the Senate itself be treated as a committee of the whole,” he said, suggesting the bill be debated by all individuals. He also said that the opposition could not debate something that it had not read, as the opposition received the draft only on November 8.

Protest from the opposition

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Amendments in Article 175

Legal experts are divided over Article 175, which would create a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) to oversee High Court appointments and provincial cabinet rules. According to the experts, the amendment would dethrone the Supreme Court as the country’s highest judicial forum, ceding that position to a proposed Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).

However, supporters of the amendment say the new constitutional court would modernise the judiciary, reduce backlogs and separate constitutional and appellate jurisdictions, reported the Dawn newspaper.

(With agency inputs)