Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 576 - 03/12/2025
By: Ustadh Bilal Al-Muhajir – Wilayah Pakistan

Despite the American-led global secular order’s reverence for the concept of the rotation of power, a serious issue has forced America to abandon this sanctity and operate differently. It has preferred to keep its agent dictators in power due to the scarcity of such formidable agents. America is no longer able to cultivate and prepare new agents to succeed their predecessors, given the rapid pace of events and the rising awareness among populations, particularly in the Muslim World, which has become extremely difficult to control and manipulate.

It took America more than a decade to pave the way for the Damascus regime’s opportunists, whom they had implanted within the Syrian revolution, and they were only able to replace Bashar al-Assad with them after fourteen years of the uprising. Similarly, America understood that it could not replace Ankara’s opportunists with their counterparts, so the Turkish constitution was amended from a parliamentary to a presidential system. This granted the president broad powers, including the possibility of running for consecutive terms, and abolished the office of prime minister, making the president the most powerful figure in the executive branch.

Within this context, Pakistan’s 27th constitutional amendment comes at a critical juncture, as the Trump administration has revitalized Asim Munir’s role in advancing American geopolitical interests in the Middle East and South Asia. The speed with which this amendment was passed, and its timing, indicate that Pakistan’s security and governance apparatus operates according to external timetables, dictated by American interests. This amendment represents an unprecedented step, restructuring the country’s judiciary and military in a way that consolidates American influence, prevents any opposition from challenging it, and effectively eliminates the supposed independence of state institutions.

Among several amendments, two stand out as the most significant: the reorganization of the supreme military command and reforms to the judiciary. In the judiciary, the amendment includes the creation of a new constitutional court called the “Federal Constitutional Court (FCC),” which will be the sole body authorized to hear constitutional cases. This effectively eliminates the role of the Supreme Court, reducing its status to that of a mere high court, whose decisions are no longer binding on the Federal Constitutional Court. Meanwhile, Federal Constitutional Court decisions become binding on all courts, including the Supreme Court, significantly diminishing the Supreme Court's power and limiting its role. Furthermore, the amendment grants the army chief, and the head of state, lifetime immunity from prosecution.

To appoint judges loyal to the military, the amendment strengthens the executive branch’s role in appointing and transferring judges, replacing the independent judicial commission that previously performed these tasks. This threatens the independence of the judiciary and makes it more subservient to the pro-American executive branch. These reforms are not aimed at achieving genuine or swift justice for the people of Pakistan, but rather at manipulating the judiciary to serve the interests of America’s agents and allies within the country, and to consolidate the executive branch, which faces no challenges from a higher judiciary, historically linked to British interests.

At the highest military command level, the main reform involves creating the position of Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), who oversees the Army, Air Force, and Navy. This position replaces the abolished Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) will have the authority to appoint the heads of the various branches of the armed forces and the strategic nuclear forces, effectively placing these forces under the control of the Chief of Army Staff, who is himself subject to American influence. The amendment ensures that the Chief of Army Staff will always hold this position, preventing any officer from the Air Force, Navy, or strategic nuclear forces—branches where many are loyal to Islam and support the return of Islamic governance—from attaining it.

Under this amendment, General Asim Munir, considered one of the most prominent pro-American officers, was appointed as the commander of the defense forces for a five-year term, with the possibility of extension. A new position for the commander of the National Strategic Command (NSC) was also created to replace the previous structure that ran Pakistan’s nuclear weapons under the National Command Authority (NCA), thus centrally integrating the three strategic nuclear forces under General Munir’s command, concentrating control in his hands.

The implications of this amendment are clear: it consolidates American influence through General Munir’s personal control over the various branches of the armed forces that were previously relatively independent, and it concentrates command and control in one hand. Although the ruling regime justifies these reforms as creating synergy and unity in the military leadership, the unilateral nature of the Chief of Defence Forces position and the elimination of the rotation system reveal the true objective: total American control over Pakistan’s security apparatus.

The reshuffle has broader objectives related to advancing American interests in the region, particularly in light of the Palestinian issue, which is central to the conflict in Muslim countries. The United States faces resistance within the Pakistan’s armed forces against deploying troops to protect Jewish interests in Gaza as part of the American peace plan. Therefore, the US administration is counting on strengthening General Munir’s control to quell this resistance and address internal demands.

These amendments represent a dangerous turning point in Pakistan’s constitutional and political history. They strengthen the military’s influence and diminish the judiciary’s power, paving the way for increased military intervention, control over key government positions, and a reduction in the role of civilian institutions. Therefore, it can be argued that Pakistan’s 27th constitutional amendment is not merely an administrative or judicial change, but a profound geopolitical shift that undermines state institutions, and consolidates American influence over the country’s security and political affairs.