ISLAMABAD: In a bid to gather information on dual nationality holder bureaucrats, the Establishment Division has issued a circular, asking the ministries and government divisions for the names of the individuals who acquired foreign nationality over the last ten years, Pakistan Today has learned.
The circular came following the query of a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Syed Imran Ahmad, which was submitted to the National Assembly Secretariat last week.
In his query, Imran asked the Minister In-charge of the Establishment Division to state the names of individuals who sought foreign nationalities over the said period. He further enquired whether such individuals had asked the relevant authorities prior to obtaining the nationality.
If the answer is in negative, whether this is tantamount to misconduct; if so, what was the total number of government servants against whom action was taken?
A government official, seeking anonymity, told Pakistan Today that dual-nationality was a sensitive matter, as a number of civil servants, especially from Foreign Service group, Office Management group, hold dual-nationalities.
“These officials got the foreign nationality and now they have been working in the country without disclosing the fact,” the official stated.
Currently, government servants have full immunity, as there is no law in the country pertaining to the matter, due to which the government is unable to act against them.
The dual nationality issue of government servants had earlier been highlighted by the Senator Sughra Imam in the upper house. She had introduced a bill titled ‘The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill’, in 2013, that proposed that the civil servants, holding dual citizenship shall not be entitled to promotion to posts in BPS-20 or above.
Former Senator Sughra Imam, while talking to Pakistan Today, said that there is a dire need of legislation regarding dual-nationality of the civil servants, as the Constitution already bars the politicians to hold the nationality of any other country.
“Government servants should be bound to disclose their foreign nationality,” she said, adding that when she raised the matter in parliament she came to know that there were a lot of civil servants holding dual nationalities.
Questioning the loyalty of the dual nationalities holder, she said how can they protect the interests of the country, while they have also taken the oath of loyalties to other countries.
“For instance we have the example of former PM Shaukat Aziz and Former Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah, both of whom left Pakistan, taking important secrets with them,” she remarked.
Stressing a need for a proper database, an official of the Establishment Division said the government needed to compile data of officers, working with the government in the capacity of consultant and contractual employee. “As in recent past, one dual nationality holder official working in a ministry as a consultant proposed to privatise the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) for his own vested interests.”
Establishment Division spokesperson said there was no legislation, as the law was “silent on the matter”.
It is necessary to mention here that much of the developed countries such as US, UK, Australia, Switzerland have no restrictions on dual nationals, whereas countries such as Singapore, Austria, India, Saudi Arabia do not recognise dual citizenships, leading to automatic loss of citizenship upon acquiring the other.
