| Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee | |
|---|---|
| صدرنشین مجلسِ مشترکہَ رؤسائے افواجِ پاکستان | |
 Flag of the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee | |
 | |
 Pakistan Armed Forces | |
| Type | Four-starofficer |
| Status | Leader of the Armed Forces, Highest ranking military officer |
| Abbreviation | CJCSC |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | Minister of Defence |
| Residence | Islamabad,Pakistan |
| Seat | Joint Staff Headquarters Rawalpindi, Pakistan |
| Nominator | Prime Minister of Pakistan |
| Appointer | President of Pakistan |
| Term length | 3 years Renewable once |
| Precursor | Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of theArmy,Navy andAir Force |
| Formation | 1 March 1976; 49 years ago (1976-03-01) |
| First holder | GeneralMuhammad Sharif |
| Deputy | Vice Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee |
TheChairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC)[a] is, in principle, the highest-ranking and senior most uniformedmilitary officer, typically atfour-star rank, in thePakistan Armed Forces who serves as a principal staff officer (PSO) and a chiefmilitary adviser to thecivilian government led by electedprime minister of Pakistan and theNational Security Council. The role of advisement is also extended to the elected members in thebicameral parliament and theministry of Defence.[1]: 42 The chairman leads the meetings and coordinates the combined efforts of theJoint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC), comprising the chairman, thechief of the Army Staff andchief of the Air Staff and thechief of the Naval Staff,commandant ofmarines, director generalCoast Guards andStrategic Plans Division, and commanders of the service branches in theCivil Armed Forces and theNational Guard.[2]: 145–146
Even as the principal staff officer (PSO), the chairman does not have any authority over the command of the combatant forces.[3]: 145 The individual service chiefs are solely responsible for the coordination and logistics of the armed and combatant forces. Due to this constraint, the chiefs ofarmy,navy andair force are much incommand and control of their respected commands.[3]: 146–147
The chairman's mandate is to transmitstrategic communications to the combatant commanders from theprime minister andpresident as well as allocate additional funding to the combatant commanders if necessary.[3]: 146–147 The chairman is nominated and appointed by theprime minister; and is finally confirmed by the president.[3]: 147 UnlikeUnited States'sChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the appointment of chairman does not need confirmation via majority vote by theparliament. Although, the appointment needs confirmation from the prime minister. By statute, the chairman is appointed as a four-star general, four-star air chief marshal and/or four star admiral. By law required, all four-star officers are required to have vast experience in joint uniformed services of Pakistan during their 40-year-long military careers.[3]: 148
The post of CJCSC was created by the former prime minister of PakistanZulfikar Ali Bhutto in March 1976, and the first chairman was four star rank officer, GeneralMuhammad Shariff. The current holder of the office is GeneralSahir Shamshad Mirza appointed in 2022.[4]
Despite the post of the chairmanship is bound constitutionally for the rotation, thearmy generals are strongly preferred for such post, despite coming short of their qualifications, by the civilian prime ministers in a view of stabilizing thecivil military relations.[5]: 229 [6]: 426–427
Unlike the American system where the balance is made between the branches of theU.S. military, the majority of the chairmen are appointed from the department of the army, superseding the officers in the navy, marines, and the air force.[7]
In 1999,Prime Minister Sharif notably refused to appoint the senior most officer, AdmiralFasih Bokhari, to such post in favor of appointing junior-most officer, Gen.Pervez Musharraf. This action of Prime Minister Sharif led towards Adm. Bokharrevolting against this decision in public in 1999, creating strain in the relation between the civilian government and the military.[8][9]
Thefour-star admirals in the Pakistan Navy have been notably superseded by the junior army officers, in instances took place in 2005 when Adm.Karim was superseded by junior-mostLt-Gen.Ehsan ul Haq[10] and, in 2011 whenAdm. Numan was bypassed in favor ofLt-Gen. Wynne.[11] In 2014, the practice continued by the civil government when Adm.Asif Sandila was bypassed and overlooked when the junior most officer, Lt-Gen.Rashad Mahmood was eventually appointed as Chairman joint chiefs.[12][13]
| Seniority in Navy's Candidacy for Chairman joint chiefs | Eventual Appointment for Chairman joint chiefs from Army | Year Zone of appointment |
|---|---|---|
| Adm.Fasih Bokhari | Lt-Gen.Pervez Musharraf | 1999 |
| Adm.Shahid Karim-ullah | Lt-Gen.Ehsan ul Haq | 2006 |
| Adm.Noman Bashir | Lt-Gen.K. Shamim Wynne | 2011 |
| Adm.Asif Sandila | Lt-Gen.Rashad Mahmood | 2014 |
Due to such preferential treatments given to army department, the retired admirals have given a strong criticism of such criterion, expressing their dissatisfaction towards the appointment processes.[14]
| No. | Portrait | Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Prime Minister |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Shariff, MuhammadGeneral Muhammad ShariffNI(M),SI(M) (1921–1999) | 1 March 1976 | 22 January 1977 | 327 days |  Pakistan Army | Bhutto, Zulfikar AliZulfikar Ali Bhutto |
| 2 | | Shariff, MohammadAdmiral Mohammad ShariffNI(M),HI(M),SI(M),HJ,SJ,SK (1920–2020) [b] | 22 January 1977 | 13 April 1980 | 3 years, 82 days |  Pakistan Navy | Bhutto, Zulfikar AliZulfikar Ali Bhutto |
| 3 | | Khan, IqbalGeneral Iqbal KhanNI(M),SBt (1924–2000) | 13 April 1980 | 22 March 1984 | 3 years, 344 days | Pakistan Army | *None 1977 – 1985 |
| 4 |  | Khan, RahimuddinGeneral Rahimuddin KhanNI(M),SBt (1926–2022) | 22 March 1984 | 28 March 1987[15] | 3 years, 38 days | Pakistan Army | Junejo, Mohammad KhanMohammad Khan Junejo |
| 5 | | Rahman, Akhtar AbdurGeneral Akhtar Abdur RahmanNI(M),SBt (1924–1988) | 29 March 1987 | 17 August 1988 † | 1 year, 110 days | Pakistan Army | Junejo, Mohammad KhanMohammad Khan Junejo |
| 6 |  | Sirohey, Iftikhar AhmedAdmiral Iftikhar Ahmed SiroheyNI(M),HI(M),SI(M),SBt (1934–2025) | 10 November 1988 | 17 August 1991 | 2 years, 280 days | Pakistan Navy | Bhutto, BenazirBenazir Bhutto |
| 7 |  | Khan, Shamim AlamGeneral Shamim AllamNI(M),SJ,SBt (1937–2021) | 17 August 1991 | 9 November 1994 | 3 years, 84 days | Pakistan Army | Sharif, NawazNawaz Sharif |
| 8 | | Khan, Farooq FerozeAir Chief Marshal Feroz KhanNI(M),SBt (1939–2021) | 10 November 1994 | 9 November 1997 | 2 years, 364 days |  Pakistan Air Force | Bhutto, BenazirBenazir Bhutto |
| 9 |  | Karamat, JehangirGeneral Jehangir KaramatNI(M),SBt (born 1941) | 9 November 1997 | 7 October 1998 | 332 days | Pakistan Army | Sharif, NawazNawaz Sharif |
| 10 |  | Musharraf, PervezGeneral Pervez MusharrafNI(M),TBt (1943–2023) | 7 October 1998 | 7 October 2001 | 3 years | Pakistan Army | Sharif, NawazNawaz Sharif |
| 11 | .jpg) | Khan, AzizGeneral Aziz KhanNI(M),SBt (born 1947) | 7 October 2001 | 7 October 2004 | 3 years | Pakistan Army | Jamali, Zafarullah KhanZafarullah Khan Jamali |
| 12 |  | ul Haq, EhsanGeneral Ehsan ul HaqNI(M) (born 1949) | 7 October 2004 | 7 October 2007 | 3 years | Pakistan Army | Aziz, ShaukatShaukat Aziz |
| 13 | | Majid, TariqGeneral Tariq MajidNI(M),HI(M) (born 1950) | 7 October 2007 | 7 October 2010 | 3 years | Pakistan Army | Soomro, Muhammad MianMuhammad Mian Soomro Yousaf Raza Gillani |
| 14 | .jpg) | Wynne, Khalid ShameemGeneral Khalid Shameem WynneNI(M) (1953–2017) | 8 October 2010 | 8 October 2013 | 3 years | Pakistan Army | Gillani, Yousaf RazaYousaf Raza Gillani Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Mir Hazar Khan Khoso Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif |
| - |  | Kayani, Ashfaq ParvezGeneral Ashfaq Parvez KayaniNI(M),HI(M) (born 1952) Acting | 8 October 2013 | 27 November 2013 | 50 days | Pakistan Army | Sharif, NawazNawaz Sharif |
| 15 |  | Mahmood, RashadGeneral Rashad MahmoodNI(M) (born 1953) | 27 November 2013 | 28 November 2016 | 3 years, 1 day | Pakistan Army | Sharif, NawazNawaz Sharif |
| 16 |  | Hayat, Zubair MahmoodGeneral Zubair HayatNI(M) (born 1960) | 28 November 2016 | 27 November 2019 | 2 years, 364 days | Pakistan Army | Sharif, NawazNawaz Sharif Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Imran Khan |
| 17 |  | Raza NaveedGeneral Nadeem RazaNI(M),HI(M) (born 1965) | 27 November 2019 | 27 November 2022 | 3 years | Pakistan Army | Khan, ImranImran Khan Shehbaz Sharif |
| 18 | | Shamshad, SahirGeneral Sahir Shamshad MirzaNI(M),HI(M) | 27 November 2022 | Incumbent | 2 years, 221 days | Pakistan Army | Shehbaz Sharif |
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