ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Friday discussed the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and discussed the issue of dual citizenship for government officials.
The committee members emphasized that ban on dual citizenship should be applied equally to all government employees without any exception. If exceptions are necessary, he argued, they should be applied equally.
The meeting of the committee was held in Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Rana Mehmoodul Hasan in which the proposed amendment bill was considered. Senator Dr. Afnanullah Khan, who introduced the bill, said that civil servants take an oath of allegiance and loyalty to the state of Pakistan, which makes it impossible for them to be equally loyal to two countries. Senator Sadia Abbasi said that citizens of countries like United Kingdom and America are allowed to have dual citizenship. He pointed out that it is surprising that dual citizens can hold any public office in the US except the presidency. He urged the Government of Pakistan to formulate a comprehensive policy on dual citizenship, clearly defining the restrictions and requirements. Senator Sadia Abbasi, along with other members of the committee, reiterated that the ban on dual citizenship should apply equally to all public servants and that exceptions, if any, should be applied fairly.
Cabinet Division Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal told the committee that the issue was discussed in the committee of secretaries in which dual citizenship There is no objection to the concept of However, he argued that it is inherently challenging for an individual to maintain equal loyalty to two countries. The Committee decided to consider the report of the Committee of Secretaries in its next meeting to resolve the issue.