Pakistan has rewritten its constitutional future, and this time the transformation is neither subtle nor debatable. The 27th Amendment to the 1973 Constitution, rushed through Parliament with little scrutiny, has been described by legal scholars as the complete destruction of the country’s constitutional order. Senior journalists have called it the killing of the constitution and an unmistakable slide into authoritarian rule. The swiftness of its passage reflects both the overwhelming power of the military establishment and the helplessness of the civilian leadership.
At the centre of this amendment lies the extraordinary elevation of Army Chief General Asim Munir to the position of Field Marshal for life. This is not merely honorary. The amendment guarantees him lifelong rank, lifelong privileges, and lifelong constitutional protection. While presidents lose their immunity the moment they leave office, the Field Marshal retains his forever, because his appointment itself has no end. It is a legal shield that appears designed to ensure that no military leader ever faces the fate of former ruler Pervez Musharraf, who was tried for treason once removed from power.
Yet the amendment goes far beyond personal privilege. It formally restructures Pakistan’s military architecture in a way that cements the army’s historic dominance over the state. The Army Chief now automatically assumes the additional title of Chief of Defense Forces, placing him in direct command over the Air Force and Navy. The long-standing post of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee has been abolished. For decades, it served as a symbol of tri service coordination and an attempt to preserve some semblance of balance among the forces. Its removal ends even that limited parity.
More troubling is the amendment’s overhaul of Pakistan’s nuclear command. A new National Strategic Command has been created to control all nuclear weapons and related assets. Only an army officer can lead it. Officers from the Air Force or Navy are constitutionally excluded. Although the Prime Minister’s consultation is mentioned, it is largely nominal. The earlier civilian led Nuclear Command Authority has effectively been sidelined. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are now fully concentrated under military authority, with no credible system of civilian oversight.
The amendment also strikes at the foundations of civilian governance. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet approved the measure without resistance, a submission that speaks volumes about the state of Pakistan’s democracy. Sharif even chaired the cabinet meeting from abroad, symbolizing both haste and detachment in the face of a constitutional transformation. The judiciary, meanwhile, has been reduced to a subordinate institution. By revising Article 243 and related clauses, the military has been placed beyond the reach of meaningful judicial scrutiny. Legal experts say the Supreme Court has been weakened and the high court further marginalized.
This amendment does not exist in a vacuum. It is the latest chapter in a long history of constitutional erosion. Pakistan’s first constitution in 1956 survived barely two years before being swept aside by martial law. The 1973 Constitution, considered the nation’s most democratic charter, has been repeatedly reshaped by military rulers to secure their own authority. What distinguishes the 27th Amendment is the scale of its ambition. It transforms military dominance from a political reality into a constitutional truth.
Pakistan now stands at a dangerous crossroads. The amendment constitutes a constitutional coup carried out through parliamentary formality but without democratic legitimacy. By granting a single military officer lifelong power, lifelong protection, and control over both the armed forces and nuclear arsenal, the state has surrendered its democratic character. The line between civilian rule and military rule has not merely blurred; it has been erased.
For several decades, Pakistan has oscillated between a fragile democracy and military rule. The ratification of the 27th Amendment suggests that this oscillation has ended. The military’s authority is no longer a temporary one, disputed, nor subject to the political climate. It is written into the constitution itself.
What began in 1958 as intermittent military intervention has, in 2025, achieved constitutional permanence. This is not reform. It is the final consolidation of praetorian rule. And it leaves Pakistan’s democratic future more uncertain than ever.
