Pakistan: PML-N MPA seeks a ban on the appointment of dual nationals to government service
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
A resolution has been submitted to the Punjab Assembly seeking a ban on the appointment of dual nationals to government service, arguing that holding citizenship of another country raises concerns over allegiance and access to sensitive state information.
The resolution, moved by ruling PML-N MPA Amjad Ali Javed, calls on the federal and Punjab governments to enact legislation barring dual nationals from obtaining government jobs.
According to the text of the resolution, an investigative report claimed that around 24,000 serving employees in various government departments held dual nationality. It stated that many of their family members also possessed foreign citizenship, while others were in the process of acquiring it.
The resolution argued that acquiring citizenship of another country requires an oath of allegiance to that state, which may raise questions about an individual’s loyalty to Pakistan. It noted that, on similar grounds, dual nationals are already barred from contesting elections.
It further stated that government officials are entrusted with sensitive information relating to national security, have access to important official records, and play a key role in administrative and policy decisions. However, existing laws do not prevent dual nationals from serving in government positions.
The resolution urged both governments to introduce appropriate legislation and take necessary administrative measures to prohibit dual nationals from securing public sector employment, saying such steps were essential to safeguard national interests and protect sensitive state institutions.
In January, JUI-F MNA Noor Alam Khan also called for barring bureaucrats from holding dual nationality.
“And if this does not happen, parliamentarians should also be allowed to have dual citizenship,” he said, in a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, where the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2024 — which was moved by Khan — was taken up.
Reference Link:- https://www.dawn.com/news/2017045
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
