ISLAMABAD: The opposition parties on Sunday criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led federal government, after it disclosed the details of assets and dual nationalities of special assistants and advisors to the prime minister.
PPP Central Secretary Information Nafisa Shah said that the "selected prime minister" had been exposed after the reality of the advisers came to light on Saturday night.
She said that half of the cabinet members criticising dual citizenship holders had dual citizenship.
"What action is the incompetent prime minister taking against dual nationals?" she asked.
Shah said that those who had taken an oath of allegiance abroad had been imposed on Pakistan under this government. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif said that the federal cabinet was always a product of the Parliament, and rules regarding dual nationalities were applicable to both.
"If a foreign national can't be a member of the Parliament, how can he/she be a member of the cabinet?" he asked in his tweet on Sunday.
PPP leader Senator Senator Sherry Rehman, in a video statement, questioned how advisers and close aides sitting in the federal cabinet could be dual nationals, when members of parliament were not permitted to hold dual citizenship.
"Out of 19 unelected cabinet members, four assistants have dual citizenship. Did the prime minister, despite having this information, make dual nationals part of the constitutional forum?" she asked.
Another PNL-N leader Ahsan Iqbal called the government "guest actors who will sink the country's economy, take out their green cards and British passports, grab a flight and flee the country".
"They sit in the cabinet meetings and have not even been sworn to secrecy," he said in his tweet.
Secretary information Marriyum Aurangzeb while challenging Imran Khan to fire the dual nationality holder advisors and ministers has demanded that Imran should ask these individuals to resign.
In a statement, Marriyum reminded Imran that he said it is unethical and unacceptable to hold dual nationality while being a minister and making decisions of the country's future.
She jogged Imran's memory regarding his statement that if anyone possesses a passport of another country he must not be allowed to sit in the parliament of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The former Information Minister questioned why Imran recruited those in his cabinet who have no assets or stakes in Pakistan and are making decisions that affect those who have all their assets and stakes in this country. Marriyum said these ministers and advisors are a product and baggage of the 23 illegal accounts.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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