Asim Munir awaits his CDF notification: Is Shehbaz Sharif blocking the rise of Pakistan’s most powerful general?

File photo of Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (R) and country's army chief General Asim Munir.

Pakistan has once again drifted into a familiar zone of uncertainty where politics and the military collide. At the heart of the current turmoil is the delayed notification elevating Army Chief General Asim Munir to the newly created post of Chief of Defence Forces. The delay, though procedural on paper, has sparked a storm of speculation, ridicule, and deep anxiety about who actually governs Pakistan at a moment when the state is already wobbling under political and economic stress.

Munir was supposed to assume the post of CDF on November 29 after Pakistan’s Parliament pushed through the controversial 27th Constitutional Amendment. The amendment dissolved the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and handed over unprecedented authority to the new CDF. Munir would not only control the army, navy and air force but also enjoy legal protections “on par with the President,” including immunity from prosecution. As analysts have warned, once the appointment is made, Munir becomes the “most powerful man in Pakistan.”

Yet the notification signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has not materialised. That gap between expectation and action has become the centre of Pakistan’s latest civil-military standoff.

A delay that has become the talk of Pakistan

The noise around Munir’s missing notification has grown so loud that journalists and ordinary Pakistanis have started mocking the situation online. Pakistani journalist Cyril Almeida wrote sarcastically on X, “It is hereby notified that no notification will be notified until the notification is notified….”

Another X user mocked Munir’s ambitions by describing him as “Syed field marshal 9-star platinum.. khalid ibn waleed 2.0.. general of the generals.. prince of the banu hashim.. iso90002 certified hafiz (عَلَیہِ السلام)… waiting for an official notification from a 2-bit politician who couldn’t even win his seats… islam is in danger..”

ALSO READ | Pakistan headed for a civil-military clash? Munir’s elevation as supreme commander delayed as Shehbaz goes ‘missing’

A third user, sharing a photo of Munir, called him “General Retired Asim Munir” and wrote, “Where have you gone missing….. I miss you. A notification will surely come through. Show up somewhere. I am sad.”

Jokes aside, the country’s administrative machine appears frozen. According to ThePrint, Munir’s original tenure as army chief ended on November 29, meaning that in technical terms Pakistan currently has neither a serving army chief nor a CDF in place. The 27th Amendment had proposed creating a Commander of the National Strategic Command to supervise Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. This position is also stuck. In short, Pakistan is functioning without clarity on who controls its nuclear chain of command.

NSAB member Tilak Devasher described the situation bluntly while speaking to ANI. “He is deliberately staying out of this because he clearly doesn’t want to issue the notification giving Asim Munir five years as Army Chief and as Chief of Defence Forces.” He added that Pakistan now faces “a situation where Pakistan doesn’t have an Army Chief, and even the nuclear command authority… is also not there.”

Is Shehbaz Sharif sabotaging Munir’s rise? The case for a political roadblock

The developments over the past week suggest that Shehbaz Sharif may be playing for time. He was on a personal trip to the United Kingdom, reportedly due to health issues, and only returned on Monday night. What raised eyebrows was that he landed in Lahore instead of Islamabad, delaying any chance of signing the notification.

Sources quoted by ThePrint and Moneycontrol indicate that Sharif is using this delay to negotiate political terms. According to reports, the Sharif family is insisting on installing trusted loyalists in key military positions before granting Munir a near-absolute role over the armed forces.

ALSO READ | Inside Pakistan’s power reset: How Asim Munir’s new military order collides with Imran Khan crisis

Moneycontrol reported that Shehbaz’s “sudden Lahore detour” is widely seen as a signal of a growing standoff with Munir, with the Sharifs unwilling to give the army chief unchecked power without securing political safeguards. Some accounts suggest the prime minister is resisting Munir’s request for selecting officers for two newly created four-star posts.

There is also confusion about how long Munir’s tenure as CDF would last once appointed. ThePrint reported that the final decision on tenure rests with the prime minister, leading to negotiations and delays. The government is also dealing with politicians who are pressing for the appointment of a vice chief of army staff, which would dilute Munir’s authority.

Is the delay revealing Munir’s weakness, not his power?

The entire episode exposes a contradiction. Munir was supposed to emerge as Pakistan’s uncontested military supremo. Yet his inability to get a notification signed on time has raised questions about his political strength.

The creation of the CDF position was meant to solidify the army’s dominance over the state machinery and push Pakistan further toward a military centric governance model. The fact that the prime minister can still stall this process shows that even the most powerful generals are not immune from political manoeuvring when civilian leaders choose to resist.

Reports quoted by Moneycontrol even suggest that multiple generals are now “jostling for position” and see the uncertainty as an opening to challenge Munir’s authority. If the delay continues, it could ignite a power struggle within the army itself, weakening Munir rather than empowering him.

A crisis of legitimacy at the heart of the Pakistani state

At a time when Pakistan faces economic collapse, political fragmentation and rising extremism, this standoff sends a troubling message. The state seems unsure of who its top military leader really is. Nuclear oversight is in limbo. Political leadership is playing for time. Munir’s supporters are increasingly agitated. And the civilian government appears unwilling to rubber stamp the general’s elevation.

Whether Shehbaz Sharif is intentionally blocking Munir’s rise or merely delaying it for “finer details,” as Dawn has reported, the message is the same: Pakistan is entering yet another dangerous round of civil military tension.

In a country where the military has long claimed supremacy, the absence of a notification has turned into a symbol of uncertainty, distrust and a leadership vacuum. And in that vacuum, Asim Munir’s claim to absolute control now looks far less certain than Pakistan’s generals expected.