The Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs has deferred a bill seeking to extend official blue passports to children of former members of Parliament.
The committee, chaired by Senator Khalil Tahir Sandhu, reviewed a private member’s bill originally tabled by Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir on 8 May 2026.
The proposed amendment to the Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) Act seeks to grant official passports to spouses and dependent children below 28 years.
Government opposition
The Ministry Secretariat briefed the committee that both the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs formally oppose the proposed legislative amendment.
Officials stated that entitlements for official passports across all categories are already governed under Pakistan’s Passport Rules of 2021, issued by the federal government.
The government maintained that the proposed changes are neither necessary nor backed by any policy justification from the relevant ministries currently overseeing passport affairs.
Senators’ concerns
Senator Kamran argued that any necessary modifications to passport eligibility should be made through amendment of existing rules rather than changes to the principal legislation.
Senator Pervaiz raised strong objections, stating that assigning different passport colours to different categories of individuals amounts to a clear and unjustifiable form of discrimination.
The committee was further informed that a specific United Nations department has formally defined the criteria applicable to diplomatic passport categories under international standards.
Committee recommendation
The committee jointly proposed that passport colours be made uniform across all categories, with distinctions indicated only through the official titles printed on each document.
Senator Qadir, the bill’s author, stressed that achieving full uniformity across all passport categories remains the singular and central demand behind the proposed legislative amendment.
The committee ultimately resolved to defer further deliberation on the bill, allowing a period of 1 month to review and reconsider the legislation before its next meeting.
