Dual citizenship: Notices issued to 13 lawmakers

Finance minister, PML-N MNA Khawaja Asif are prominent among the names with US and Canadian citizenship.


Our Correspondent June 05, 2012

ISLAMABAD:


In response to another application, the Supreme Court also issued notices to 13 parliamentarians allegedly holding dual citizenship during today’s hearing. The notices were issued to elected members from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).


Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Shaikh and PML-N MNA Khawaja Asif are prominent among the names with US and Canadian citizenship, while Deputy Senate Chairman Sabir Baloch is also included in the list although his nationality remains unmentioned.

The applicant, Advocate Waheed Anjum, who is representing the Rawalpindi Bar Council, provided the lawmakers’ foreign passports numbers to the apex court during today’s proceedings.

According to his list, the names of parliamentarians with dual citizenship are:  PML-N MPA Muhammad Akhlaq, MQM MPA Farhat Muhammad, PPP MPA Tariq Mehmood Alloana, PML-N MPA Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chouhan, PPP MPA Dr Ahmad Ali Shah, MQM MPA Nadia Gabol ,  PPP’s Amna Buttar, PPP MNA Zahid Iqbal, PML-N MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif, PPP Senator Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, PPP Senator Sabir Ali Baloch, PML-N MPA Chaudhry Waseem Qadir and PML-N MPA Chaudhry Nadeem Khadim.

The counsel for MNA Zahid Iqbal told the court that his client had informed him that he has no foreign passport. PML-N MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif told The Express Tribune that he will file a defamation suit against the lawyer who mentioned his name in the list without verification. “I am proud to be a green passport holder,” he said.

The finance minister, while speaking on the floor of the house, said, “I always had one nationality, will have one nationality and will die with that nationality which is Pakistani. I never sought any other nationality and will never seek (it).”


Published In The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2012.

COMMENTS (17)

Reader | 11 years ago | Reply

Hi, as a dual national I send money to Pakistan, and when I visit Pakistan I am very nicely humiliated at airport, property is grabbed by relatives as there is no law to protect my assets, money is transferred to bank officers accounts without my consent, so what else's you want my dear with dual nationality holders?

Tanweer | 11 years ago | Reply

What everyone is forgetting that there's no provision in constitution to have to nationalities for the legislatures. A Pakistani can have two nationalities but he/she has to forfeit one when he/she takes oath as an MNA or MPA. I am sure this article in the constitution was inserted after much deliberations. Was Election Commission sleeping when they submitted their papers for nomination?

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