ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) MNA Noor Alam Khan on Monday called for barring bureaucrats from holding dual nationality, arguing that civil servants should face the same restrictions as parliamentarians.
The issue came under discussion during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, which took up the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2024, moved by Khan. The proposed legislation seeks to amend Section 5 of the Civil Servants Act, 1973, to disqualify individuals holding dual nationality or foreign citizenship from appointment as civil servants.
Currently, Article 63(1)(c) of the Constitution bars parliamentarians from holding dual nationality, but no such restriction applies to bureaucrats. Khan told the committee that this disparity was unjustified. “If bureaucrats are allowed dual nationality, then parliamentarians should also be given this right,” he said.
PPP MNA Agha Rafiullah, without naming individuals, recalled that lawmakers had been swiftly unseated in the past following a Supreme Court ruling on dual nationality.
Cabinet Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal suggested that cases of bureaucrats holding dual citizenship by birth could be reviewed and proposed that judges should also be brought under the ambit of the bill. Khan, however, opposed reviewing individual cases instead of ending dual nationality altogether, noting that “there is no dual national in the armed forces”.
Committee Chairman Abrar Ahmed asked for data on the number of bureaucrats holding dual citizenship by birth and said that individuals with dual nationality should not be part of the bureaucracy or judiciary.
PML-N MNA Tahira Aurangzeb said her daughter, Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, had relinquished her Australian citizenship to contest elections, underscoring the sacrifices made by politicians to meet constitutional requirements.
Following deliberations, six out of seven committee members voted in favour of the bill and against allowing bureaucrats to hold dual nationality. However, Chairman Ahmed advised that the matter be put to vote again at the committee’s next meeting on February 16, after seeking the prime minister’s view.
The committee agreed to forward a report to the prime minister and revisit the issue at the upcoming meeting.
