Qureshi defends dual national advisers, SAPMs

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Monday that many prominent personalities in Pakistan played important roles in the government in the past but the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan set a new tradition of making details of their assets public.

Qureshi said that legally a person with dual citizenship could not become a member of the National Assembly and the Senate, however, there was no such bar on them to hold any other position in the government.

“As far as dual citizenship is concerned, we have to see what the law and the Constitution say in this regard. Legally, a person with dual citizenship cannot become a member of the National Assembly or the Senate, but there is no such restriction on any other position,” he said.

“To date, no party has adopted a clear policy to avoid a conflict of interest so that no one can use his position for personal or economic gain. In my opinion, in democratic traditions, the status of elected representatives is preferable because they have the confidence of the people.”

On the other hand, the foreign minister said, “you also need experts in various fields who can assist the government”, and this happened all over the world. According to the Constitution, he added, the prime minister could appoint five such advisers.

The Cabinet Division on July 18 issued the details of assets and dual nationalities of 20 advisers and special assistants to the prime minister that showed four of his aides having dual nationalities.

On Sunday opposition parties launched a broadside against the government for appointing special assistants to the prime minister holding dual nationalities and permanent residency of other countries despite Imran’s stance in the past that such individuals should not run government affairs.

Qureshi said that in the past also advisers were appointed and Prime Minister Imran Khan also appointed advisers and technocrats as per law. However, he added that the PTI had introduced a new tradition of disclosing the names of the dual citizen government functionaries and details of their assets.

WITH INPUT FROM APP