Pak’s NA amends army law, Asim Munir set to become first Chief of Defence Forces

Islamabad: Pakistan’s National Assembly on Thursday amended the army law, paving the way for the appointment of Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir as the coup-prone country’s first Chief of Defence Forces.

The development comes as President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday gave his assent to the controversial 27th Constitutional Amendment, making it part of the Constitution.

The purpose of the changes in the Army Act is to align the armed forces laws with the latest Constitutional Amendment, said a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Speaking in the National Assembly after DM Khawaja Asif presented the bill to amend the Army Act, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the changes were not new laws, but amendments to existing legislation. “The change in the Army Act is that the current Chief of Army Staff will concurrently be the Chief of Defence Forces [CDF],” he said, adding that the CDF’s term would be five years from the date of his appointment.

General Munir, who was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal just days after the four-day conflict with India, is only the second military officer in the country’s history to be elevated to the position, after Field Marshal Ayub Khan in the 1960s.agencies