Civil servants’ jobs hang in the balance

Legislation proposed seeking bar on dual nationals in the civil services.

ISLAMABAD: Some four dozen senior government officers may lose their jobs if parliament endorses a proposed piece of legislation barring dual citizenship holders from the civil service.

Presenting its report to the upper house of parliament, the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice proposed amendments in the Constitution that forbid foreigners from serving in the public sector.

“The committee held extensive discussions and members were of the view that [since] persons in the civil service, armed forces or the judiciary hold positions of power, privilege and trust so it must be ensured that their stakes are within the country,” reads the report.



Around 16 senior officers hold Canadian citizenship, 11 are British citizens, six hold American nationalities, three are Australian nationals, two German, two are citizens of New Zealand and one officer is Turkish citizen, according to official data prepared by the Establishment Division.

PPP Senator Sughra Imam, the mover of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2013, says government servants must not hold dual nationality. “Sensitive data could not be handed over to dual nationals, passage of this bill will protect our state secrets,” she said.

“If this bill is passed by parliament then there will be a time period – 60 days – for the government servants, who are dual nationals to renounce their citizenships, as the case may be,” states the proposed amendment bill.

The proposed bill seeks to amend articles 177, 193 and 240 for providing a bar on judges of superior courts and all persons in the service of Pakistan from holding dual nationality or citizenship of a foreign country.

Six officers, who deal with sensitive data in the National Database Registration Authority, are Director General Fiza Shahid holds Australian citizenship, directors Sohail Jahangir and Adnan Qureshi are American nationals, director Ahmad Kamal Gillani is Canadian and deputy directors Waryam Shafqat and Imran Ahmad possess Australian citizen. Interestingly Chief Manager of State Bank of Pakistan Irfan Elahi is a British national, official data continued to reveal.

Senior officers named Muhammad Khalid, Inamullah, Mehboob Alam Khan Humaira and Khurram Riaz, who are Canadian nationals, are working with Pakistan Public Works Department.

Both Auditor General of Pakistan Akhtar Buland Rana and Director General Iqbal Mahmood hold Canadian citizenships while Director Asghar Khan in grade-19 holds British nationality.

Syed Pervez Bokhari, chief engineer, Prof Dost Muhammad and Prof Dr Maqsood Ahmad are Canadian nationals. Another officer of Balochistan government Khalida Durrani is a UK national. Syed Asad Ali Shah of Pakistan Housing Authority and Muhammad Yar of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation are American nationals.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2015.