Shehbaz Sharif Lands in Lahore amid Asim Munir Suspense

Spread love

Shehbaz Sharif’s choice of Lahore over Islamabad on his return from London fuels speculation as the notification on Army Chief Asim Munir’s tenure extension remains pending.

By TRH Foreign Affairs Desk

New Delhi, December 1, 2025 — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is slated to land in Lahore tonight on his return from London. His frequent foreign travels keep Pakistan guessing on power equations between political and military leadership as a notification to formalise extension of the tenure of Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir keeps pending.

Stoking suspense over the power tussle, Pakistani media persons claimed that if Sharif were to land in Islamabad the message would be that “everything has been sorted.” But Sharif is reportedly landing in Lahore.

Incidentally, Sharif still maintains CM handle on X, which dates back to days when he was Chief Minister of Punjab province of Pakistan. Lahore is known to be the backyard of Sharifs while Islamabad stays in the shadow of military generals.

“In my 27 years in journalism, I have not seen Pakistan government so unorganized like it is since last 48 hours. I hope somebody has the things under their command and control,” wrote Pakistani journalist Jalil Afridi on X.

Building suspense over Sharif staying out of the country amid pending notification to sanctify extension of tenure for Munir, Pakistani journalists are expressing their assessments of “power tussle” in Islamabad. If the notification is issued, Munir’s position as Chief of the Army Staff as well as the Chief of the Defence Staff will be cast in stone till 2030. But the notification has not yet been issued even while the official tenure of Munir as COAS expired on November 30, 2025.

“Wonder how long the Prime Minister will be visiting Pakistan next time. He is again abroad and spends a great deal of time on foreign trips,” Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former envoy to the UN, wrote on X in a satire on the ongoing suspense in the Pakistani capital.

Adding to the suspense, Baqir Sajjad, a Pakistani journalist, wrote on X that “Update for those keenly awaiting PM @CMShehbaz’s return to Pakistan: He is landing in Lahore at 11pm tonight.”

Well-known Pakistani journalist Cyril Almeida added more fodder to the festering suspense, saying in a post on X that “it is hereby notified that no notification may be notified from outside Isloo (Islamabad)…”

Munir was appointed as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) of the Pakistan Army on November 29, 2022, for an initial three-year term, which would have ended on November 29, 2025. Under Pakistan’s military laws at the time, the standard tenure for service chiefs was three years, with a retirement age of 64.

In November 2024, Pakistan’s parliament passed amendments to the Pakistan Army Act (1952), along with similar bills for the Air Force and Navy— Extended the tenure of service chiefs from three to five years; Exempted the COAS from the 64-year retirement age limit during their term, reappointment, or extension; Included a “deeming” clause stating the changes were retroactive and always part of the law.

Thus, Munir’s term as COAS would end in November 2027. But the enabling notification has not yet been issued even while the bill had been passed.

Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn