Keeping an official blue passport after leaving parliament may soon no longer depend on serving a full term. Pakistan's Senate on Monday approved an amendment to the Passports Act, 1974, allowing former members of the National Assembly and Senate who took the oath but left early to retain the document, Geo News reported.
The bill still has to pass the National Assembly before it can become law.
What changes
At present, National Assembly members become eligible for blue passports on taking the oath, while senators must complete their six-year term. Under the Passport Rules 2021, former lawmakers qualify only if they have served at least one full term in either house.
Both bills were moved by Senator Abdul Qadir. The approved legislation inserts a new Section 3-A into the Act, letting a former parliamentarian, whether they served a full term or the remainder of another member's tenure, retain and use a gratis official passport on prescribed terms. Its statement of objects and reasons says the change brings parity with other high-ranking officials.
Official blue passports go to constitutional office-holders, government and judicial officials, senior bureaucrats and eligible dependents, and offer visa-free access to 55 countries, including 22 in Europe, according to Geo News.
Family bill withdrawn
A second bill, which would have given gratis blue passports to former lawmakers' spouses and dependent children under 28, was withdrawn after treasury members opposed it. A Senate committee had approved it in July, drawing criticism for extending an official travel privilege to family members.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told the house that the number of official blue passports had fallen from 75,000 to 45,000 after European countries and Canada raised concerns, with around 30,000 unnecessary or inactive passports cancelled.
"Security and dignity of passport is a matter of the dignity of people of Pakistan," he said. The government had no objection to lawmakers holding blue passports, he added, but worried that issuing them to families in large numbers could make other countries reluctant to offer visa-free access.
The bill's fate now rests with the National Assembly.
Read Geo News' report.