(From left to right) Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir receives baton of the field marshal from President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Presidential House in Islamabad recently. — AFP ISLAMABAD, Nov 28 (AFP): Sweeping legal reforms and regional conflict have consolidated the Pakistani military's grip on power in the past year, diluting the role of the civilian government while offering an unprecedented legal shield to the army chief, experts say.
Widely seen as Pakistan's most powerful institution, the military has governed the country for nearly half its existence via a series of coups since independence in 1947.
One of those military rulers, General Pervez Musharraf, was found guilty of treason while living in exile after an almost decade-long rule, which began in a 1999 coup. But experts say a repeat of that scenario is increasingly unlikely.
Constitutional changes rushed through parliament in November gave sweeping new powers to top officials including the current army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, already considered the most powerful man in the country.
Munir's Field Marshal rank, granted after the deadly conflict in May with arch-rival India, now also includes lifelong immunity from legal prosecution.
"Lifelong immunity means that tomorrow, if Asim Munir imposes a martial law, he will never be tried for committing an act of treason," said defence analyst Ayesha Siddiqa.
"So theoretically, a coup is possible," she told AFP.
Islamabad-based legal expert Osama Malik believes the constitutional amendment means "this time is different".
"The constitution itself is being disfigured during a civilian government, and not when a martial law is imposed," he told the news agency.
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