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Pakistan’s parliament has passed a controversial amendment to its constitution that will expand the powers of the army chief and grant him lifelong legal immunity while limiting the independence of the supreme court, in a move critics described as a “funeral for democracy”.
Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief who is widely seen as a de facto ruler of the country, was the main benefactor from the 27th constitutional amendment, which was passed by the parliamentary lower house on Wednesday.
The bill will be sent back to the senate, which already passed it on Monday, for minor tweaks before it is likely to be signed by the president, Asif Ali Zardari, formally enshrining it in the constitution.
Under the amendment, Munir – who was nominated to become a five-star general earlier this year – stands to have unprecedented powers. He will be elevated to the newly created post of chief of defence forces, overseeing not just the army but also the navy and air force, while also being granted lifelong immunity from criminal prosecution.
Aqil Shah, an adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University in the US and author of The Army and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan, said Munir had “entrenched himself and future chiefs in power through an unprecedented constitutionally protected role”.
The immunity granted in the amendment, Shah added, “makes a mockery of the principle of civilian supremacy by placing him above all reproach”.
It also substantially undermines the powers and remit of the supreme court, which is the only remaining check on executive power. Under the amendment, a new federal constitutional court will be established above the supreme court, where judges will be selected by the executive, in a move critics said undermined any semblance of an independent judiciary. The decision of how and where to transfer judges will also rest solely with the president, removing any accountability processes.
Salahuddin Ahmed, a constitutional lawyer, said the amendment “completely destroys any notion of independence in the judiciary in Pakistan. This effectively has set us on the way to a lifelong dictatorship in Pakistan.”
Opponents said the legislation served only to enshrine military rule and push Pakistan further towards all-out authoritarianism.
Since it was established in 1947, Pakistan has spent decades under full military dictatorships when military generals suspended the constitution altogether. But since 2008, after the fall of Gen Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan has emerged as a fragile democracy, ostensibly led by elected civilian governments – even if still largely manipulated or controlled by the powerful military behind the scenes.
In recent years, the military has been accused of taking greater control over the running of the country while consolidating the power of its most senior generals. As the army chief since 2022, Munir has travelled internationally in a role akin to head of state, including two unprecedented White House meetings with Donald Trump, which led to the US president referring to him as “my favourite field marshal”.
Figures from the ruling coalition government, led by the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, justified amending the constitution as a way to ensure modernisation and efficiency in the military and in the judiciary.
In the past, changes to the constitution have led to weeks of debate and disruption in the senate and the lower house. But in what analysts said was a sign of both the weakness of the ruling coalition government – an unhappy alliance of two formerly rival parties – and the untouchable power of Munir, this time it sailed through both the upper and the lower house in a few hours, with only four lawmakers voting against it on Wednesday.
Pakistan’s largest opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was among those that boycotted the vote. But despite having large public support, the party’s power and influence have been systematically destroyed since Munir became army chief, and most of its leadership are behind bars. The party’s popular leader, the former prime minister Imran Khan, has been in jail for more than two years with little hope for his release.
The Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), a multiparty opposition alliance including PTI, accused the government of “shaking the foundations of the constitution”.
In a joint letter, more than 100 lawyers and civil society activists called it a “tampering of the constitution” and said there was ‘no meaningful debate or engagement with members of the legal community, judiciary and civil society”.
