ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Sunday the process for the appointment of the country’s new chief of defense forces (CDF) has been initiated and a notification in this regard would be issued in “due course of time.”
The CDF position, created under the 27th constitutional amendment, replaced the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, which formally ended on Nov 27 with the retirement of General Sahir Shamshad Mirza. Under the amendment and subsequent changes to the Army Act, the army chief will simultaneously serve as the CDF for a five-year term.
While the notification regarding the CDF’s appointment was expected to coincide with the abolition of the CJCSC post, many saw Nov. 29 as an important marker in this regard being the date on which the original three-year tenure of the incumbent Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir was set to expire, although a 2024 amendment to the Pakistan Army Act had already extended the tenure of the three services chiefs to five years.
“There is unnecessary and irresponsible speculation about CDF notification,” Asif said on X. “Please be informed that the process has been initiated. PM is returning shortly. Notification will be issued in due course of time. No room for any conjecturing. Period!“
