ISLAMABAD: The members of the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat recommended that the ban on dual nationality should be applied across-the-board without any discrimination including judges, bureaucrats and other officers.

The committee met with Senator Rana Mahmood ul Hassan in the chair at the Parliament house on Friday. The committee discussed, “The Civil Servant (Amendment) Bill, 2024”, dual nationality of government officers.

The committee has given instruction to the secretary Establishment Division to provide a comprehensive report on civil servants holding dual nationalities.

Senator Saadia Abbasi and other members maintained that the bar of dual nationality should apply to all civil servants and there should not be any exceptions, and if any, it should be for everyone.

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Senator Dr Afnanullah Khan, bill’s mover, stated that the civil servants take an oath of faithfulness and loyalty to the State of Pakistan, and therefore, it is impossible for any individual/civil servant to be loyal to two countries.

Senator Abbasi argued that in countries such as the UK and the USA, the citizens can possess dual nationality. Surprisingly, in the USA, except for the office of the president, a dual national can hold any public office, she added.

She stated that the government of Pakistan should devise a policy concerning dual nationality, streamlining the bars and requisites for dual nationality.

Cabinet Division Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal informed that the matter was discussed in “Secretaries Committee” and there are no aversions on the dual nationality. He argued that it is intuitively difficult for any individual to be loyal to two countries.

The committee decided to discuss the Secretaries Committee report in the next meeting for the resolution of the matter.

Furthermore, the committee ratified the nomination of Senator Shahadat Awan as member of the Board of Governors the Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority.

In attendance were senators, Saadia Abbasi, Amir Waliuddin Chishti, Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee, Dr Afnanullah Khan, Cabinet Division Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, Establishment Division Special Secretary Sarah Saeed and other senior officials from relevant departments.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025