Pir Pagara opposes dual nationality bill
The party chief said that all the prime ministers who had dual nationality looted the country and with the nation suffering losses.
He added that the party will not support the amendment bill in the National Assembly.
Top leaders from the Pakistan Peoples Party held a huddle on Thursday to take up a key constitutional amendment bill seeking protection of dual national Pakistanis from disqualification as MPs.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has already announced it would not vote for both the constitutional amendment and the bill, even though some of its members also fall in the category of dual nationals.
The Awami National Party (ANP), one of the PPP’s allies, has also refused to support the constitutional amendment to lift a ban on dual nationals from taking part in elections.
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@Kaspar: Perfect. I could not have said it any better or more succinctly. While driving home today I was listening to NPR's (Public Radio) 6.30pm BBC Newshour. They were talking about the weak Job Numbers announced by USG and arguing exactly what you are saying. That Government Jobs are for US Citizens and that since USG is downsizing in a lot of departments to curtail expenditure, the hiring of US Citizens is being negatively impacted. Why can't Pakistanis get the same logic in it their heads?? What you say is the issue. That corrupt politicians, establishment and bureaucrats have a life line to escape if caught in corruption. Can you imagine that the bureaucrat negotiating the Indus Waters Treaty with India a few years back, gave away the lower riparian rights for Indus waters to India to build dams on the Indus and then fled to Canada. One has to ask how is this allowed to happen??? Who jeopardized the rights to water belonging to 180 million Pakistanis and why was this allowed to transpire in the Ministry of Water and Power under our illustrious Minister in the PPP Govt??? Why is has this Minister not been hanged for treason??? They would hang him in China, Russia and the US, you can bet.
isnt pir pagara dead?
.......govt is jus trying to save Malik Rehman n may b who knows Mr Bilal himself in future ;)
Wé American Pakistani should have the right to play part in Pakistan politics.
I am glad to read that Pir Sain Pagara opposes dual national bill.
More political parties are going to have the same voice of Pir Sain Pagara.
This is called patriotism.
My previous post was censored. Where are the people who oppose family and feudal politics now? Who has elected this Pir to be the judge over the elected parliament? What are his achievements and contributions to Pakistan? Where is his following in Punjab, KPK and other provinces? Or he has simply inherited all these rights to make decisions for people?
@Raja Islam: Unfortunately you have missed the whole point of this debate. It is not the question of who has been honest or who not. There are dishonest peole and honest people all over the world. The question is whether a person who has shown his willingness to accept a foreign nationality and with it loyalty to that country, should be allowed to sit in parliament in Pakistan and get the chance to wield power and be privy to many secrets related to security. Why, you might be able to get a man more competent than the Pakistani president or Prime Minister if you shop for such posts abroad. But would you accept, say, an American or British or an Arab for that matter, for the post. Would you allow them to run for assembly seats and become senators? Obviously not. The first precondition anywhere in the world for holders of public office, and even for permanent jobs in government, is that one should be national of that country. There is no sense in permitting people who have given up Pakistani nationality for the sake of monetary benefit, or the 'future' of their future generations, to allow them to continue tom reap full benefits of their Pakistani origin! That the dual nationality agreement is there with some countries is only a practical arrangement to facilitate them in travel or business. It does not by any stretch of the imagination entitle them to public office in Pakistan. The reason behind is is simply the possibility of divided loyalties and developing conflicts of interest. The Constitution is very clear on this point. and there is no reason whatsoever to raise this issue now and try to amend it to accommodate a few favourites or kin! The whole exercise is mala fide, just like the other bill the government is trying to bring into parliament, viz, the contempt of court bill! There are already so many real issues the government should be paying attention to rather than bring this non-issue to the fore. But it shows that they are continuing in their old self-serving ways.
@Mirza: You are right. My first sentence should have stated in US Government, except I state it later as US Gov website. Secondly, after working at an Investment Bank in NYC, I wanted to join the Federal Reserve Bank at a senior position. Since I had a Green Card then at the interview they did not offer me the position until I got my Naturalization completed. Now most Government jobs require US Citizenship.
Pakistan is probably the only country in the world where a member of parliament holds dual nationality......corruption have killed Pakistan and only Almighty Allah can save Pakistan from these corrupt mp's, ministers, pm, president...inshaAllah the time is too far away when we will see that these corrupt people will not find any place to hide
This amendment is not in the interest of Pakistan. Our politicians are not far sighted. I believe ANP will agree in the end, they are just bargaining to get some benefit in Karachi. However, I pray God give them to stick to their decision. It is my personal opinion that this bill should not be passed in the Assembly as dual nationality holder will have conflict of interest.
Principled stand, hope they abide by it.
@Raja Islam: Raja sahib, in the United States one cannot even apply for any job unless you are a US Citizen let alone a Green Card Immigrant. Get Real Raja Sahib and check US Gov websites. Look across the border at India. Tell us how many Indian PM's were dual nationals?? In India not a single General or Politician has property holdings outside India. Name us a single one, asks Baby???
ANP took a good stand. may they bestow upon it.
@Raja Islam: How many of those dual national ministers send money to Pakistan?
Brilliant far sighted decision.
Moeen Qureishi and Shoukat Aziz were the two prime ministers with dual nationality. There are no allegations against Moeen Qureishi at all and some that have not been proven against Shoukat Aziz. All the other prime ministers were Paksitan nationals only and we know how many of them have looted the nation. The logic of not supporting the proposed amendment on the basis of this theory does not hold.