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Pakistan’s lower house of parliament has approved a constitutional amendment giving national strongman Field Marshal Asim Munir legal immunity for life and expanding his control over the military.
The National Assembly passed the proposed changes, which also strip Pakistan’s Supreme Court of influence over constitutional matters, with the required two-thirds majority during a raucous session on Wednesday.
Members from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party — which is led by imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan — tore up copies of the amendment during the debate.
As the chief of army staff, Munir is already Pakistan’s most powerful figure, but the new amendment bestows upon him the title of Chief of the Defence Forces, handing him formal command of the air force and navy as well.
Analysts said the move gave him at least as much influence over the other branches of the military as was previously wielded in Pakistan by outright military dictators.
After the completion of his term, which is up for a five-year renewal in 2027, Munir and other five-star officers will retain their rank and legal immunity for life. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, who has in the past been dogged by corruption and money laundering charges that he denies, will also receive lifetime immunity from prosecution.
“It is turning a de facto position into a de jure position,” said Ayesha Siddiqa, a senior fellow at King’s College in London and author of a book on the Pakistani military’s involvement in the economy.
“Munir is consolidating power within the military and formalising the army as superior to the other two branches, which could cause agitation and confusion among the ranks,” she said.
Azam Nazeer Tarar, Pakistan’s law minister, told the Senate on Saturday that Munir deserved constitutional protection because he was “the hero of the whole nation”. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chair of the Pakistan People’s party, which is part of the ruling coalition, said his party supported the bill because Pakistan faced “a situation of war”.
The constitutional changes also create a new Federal Constitutional Court, with judges appointed by the prime minister, which will handle all cases involving constitutional interpretation and enforcement instead of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Aqeel Malik, minister of state for law, said the new court would strengthen “the foundation of justice”.
“We have also provided constitutional cover to the honour bestowed upon our national heroes and have addressed long overdue cohesion and better co-ordination within the [armed] forces,” he said.
The constitutional amendment will now be referred back to the Senate, which is widely expected to pass it again. It will then require Zardari’s signature, a step that is considered a formality.
The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif marshaled its coalition partners to ram through the changes in an unusually swift process for approving a constitutional amendment, which in the past have required months of deliberation. The Senate, parliament’s upper house, passed the bill just two days before the lower house voted on it.
The constitutional changes comes as Pakistan faces surging militant violence and simmering conflicts on its borders with India and Afghanistan, but also warming relations with US President Donald Trump, who has called Munir his “favourite field marshal”.
Pakistan on Tuesday accused India of pursuing “state terrorism” after a suicide bombing killed at least 12 people outside a judicial complex in the capital Islamabad. India strongly denied any involvement and said Islamabad was trying to divert attention from a military led power grab.
To the opposition, the amendment is a flagrant abuse of power by the military and a government they consider illegitimate.
“You stole the mandate,” said Mehmood Achakzai, a leading opposition MP told parliament, referring to allegations the military and intelligence services rigged last year’s general election.
The ruling coalition’s two-thirds majority in the lower house was also secured in part by denying Khan’s PTI, which won the most seats in 2024 but was barred from power, access to a slate of seats reserved for women and minority candidates.
“This is turning Pakistan into an authoritarian state through the facade of a constitutional order,” says Salman Akram Raja, the PTI secretary-general and supreme court advocate. “You can’t have any constitutional order without a judicial system that can be a guardian of rights.”
