ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government is all set to introduce a constitutional amendment to allow dual nationals to contest elections without having to give up their second citizenship, a top adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan has said.
Pakistanis with dual citizenship are currently forbidden to run for public office, sit in parliament, contest elections or join the army. In a landmark ruling in September 2012, the country’s top court disqualified eleven lawmakers for failing to disclose their dual nationalities upon taking office.
In recent weeks, unelected advisers to the prime minister have come under fire for carrying two passports, with the PM’s chief of digitization, Tania Aidrus, stepping down last month.
In an interview with Arab News on Monday, Khan’s adviser on Parliamentary Affairs, Zaheer-ud-din Babar Awan, said the federal cabinet had recently approved a bill to allow dual nationals to contest elections, which would now be tabled in parliament for discussion. It would require a separate two-third majority in the National Assembly and the Senate to be passed and become law.
#Listen: A new bill, if passed will allow Pakistani dual nationals to contest #elections without renouncing their second nationality says PM’s advisor on parliamentary affairs @BabarAwanPK || #Pakistan #ImranKhan
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Read special by @AamirSaeed_ : https://t.co/W7lOWVrkA8 pic.twitter.com/POf4ghPcsz— Arab News Pakistan (@arabnewspk) September 1, 2020
“We will bring it [the bill] in the Parliament soon,” Awan said, adding that opposition parties had also publicly supported the bill.
Under existing laws, overseas Pakistanis can contest polls only after renouncing their second passport. The new bill, if passed by parliament, will allow them to contest elections and revoke their second nationality only if they are elected.
“The overseas Pakistanis will be able to take part in the elections, but they will have to renounce their dual nationality before taking the oath,” Awan said. In case a candidate loses an election, he or she can retain their dual nationality.
The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has for long been popular with overseas Pakistanis. During his 2018 general elections campaign, Khan had pledged to grant overseas Pakistani the right to contest elections without having to renounce their second nationality.
According to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, approximately 8.8 million Pakistanis live abroad, with the vast majority, over 4.7 million, residing in the Middle East. In 2020, they sent over $23 billion in remittances to Pakistan.
