Islamabad: Pakistan’s Senate passed a sweeping constitutional amendment on Monday, November 10, 2025, granting unprecedented powers to Army Chief General Asim Munir while significantly curtailing the Supreme Court’s authority, despite fierce opposition protests and warnings from legal experts about threats to democracy.
The 27th Constitutional Amendment sailed through the 96-member Senate with exactly 64 votes—the minimum two-thirds majority required—after opposition lawmakers staged a dramatic walkout, tearing up copies of the bill and hurling them toward Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, according to Dawn. The amendment creates a powerful new Chief of Defence Forces position that General Munir will assume while simultaneously serving as Army Chief, according to The Express Tribune.
Under the amendment, the office of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee will be abolished on November 27, 2025, with its responsibilities transferred to the newly created Chief of Defence Forces, Dawn reported. Law Minister Tarar defended the move, stating the changes aim to “modernise the command structure and regularise recent developments within the armed forces.”
Lifetime Immunity for Military Leadership
The amendment grants extraordinary constitutional protections to officers promoted to five-star ranks. “Where the Federal Government promotes a member of the Armed Forces to the rank of Field Marshal, Marshal of the Air Force or Admiral of the Fleet, such officer shall retain the rank, privileges and remain in uniform for life,” The Express Tribune reported, citing the amendment’s text. These officers receive immunity from prosecution and arrest similar to presidential protections under Article 248, and can only be removed through parliamentary impeachment.
The provisions appear tailored for General Munir, who was promoted to Field Marshal on May 20, 2025, following a four-day conflict with India that government supporters claim Pakistan won under his leadership, according to Dawn.
Judicial Restructuring and Presidential Immunity
The amendment establishes a Federal Constitutional Court with exclusive authority over constitutional matters, effectively downgrading the Supreme Court to handle only civil and criminal appeals, as reported by Dawn. The first Chief Justice of the new court will be appointed by the President on the Prime Minister’s advice, raising concerns about judicial independence.
According to The Express Tribune, on the Pakistan Peoples Party’s demand, the amendment also grants President Asif Ali Zardari lifetime immunity from prosecution and arrest, expanding protections that currently apply only during his term of office. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif notably rejected a similar immunity clause for himself, stating on social media that “an elected prime minister must remain fully accountable.”
Opposition Denounces ‘Constitutional Coup’
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Senator Ali Zafar condemned the amendment as “nothing short of a conspiracy against the Constitution,” according to Dawn. A coalition of opposition parties formed the Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan alliance and announced nationwide protests.
In an unprecedented move, former Supreme Court judges and senior lawyers sent a letter to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi warning of “the greatest threat to the Supreme Court of Pakistan since its establishment in 1956,” Arab News reported. The letter, signed by Justice (R) Mushir Alam and former Supreme Court Bar Association presidents, stated that “no civilian or military government in Pakistan’s history has even tried, let alone succeeded, in relegating the Supreme Court as a subordinate court.”
Trump Connection and May Conflict
The government justified military provisions by citing lessons from the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, when Pakistani and Indian forces engaged in the largest aerial confrontation in recent times, according to multiple sources. PPP Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro told the Senate that “the chief of army staff, the Field Marshal won a war for Pakistan” and deserved immunity, Dawn reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly praised General Munir, calling him “my favorite field marshal” at the Gaza Peace Summit in October 2025, according to Dawn and ProPakistani. Trump hosted Munir for an unprecedented solo lunch at the White House in June 2025, marking the first time a U.S. president met with a Pakistani military chief who wasn’t the country’s official leader, Al Jazeera reported.
Democratic Concerns
Constitutional lawyer Mirza Moiz Baig warned that the amendment “spells the final death knell of independent judiciary,” The Express Tribune reported. International Commission of Jurists Secretary General Santiago Canton stated that similar recent judicial changes “erode the judiciary’s capacity to independently and effectively function as a check against excesses by other branches of the State.”
Analysts warn that the amendment formalizes military dominance that has long existed informally in Pakistan’s political system, potentially making civilian oversight mechanisms nearly impossible to restore.
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