Senate passes bill to allow ex-lawmakers to have blue passports with incomplete tenure

The Senate on Monday approved a bill to allow former parliamentarians to retain their official blue passports even if they quit office before completing a full term.

But a separate bill to extend the facility to their dependant children under 28 was shelved amid protests from treasury members.

The change in the Passports Act, 1974, is applicable to former members of National Assembly and Senate who took oath of office but didn’t complete the full term.

The bill still needs to be approved by the National Assembly for it to become law.

Official blue passports are issued to certain constitutional office holders, government and judiciary officials, top bureaucrats and their qualifying family.

“They offer visa-free access to 55 countries, including 22 in Europe,” the research said.

Both proposals were sponsored by Senator Abdul Qadir. The measure as passed suggests to establish a new section 3-A in the Passports Act to the effect that an ex-parliamentarian may retain and use an official passport gratis after vacating the office, whether he served a full term or merely the remainder of the term of another member.

Currently, National Assembly members can get blue passports from the day they take their oath of office. Senators have to serve a full six-year term to qualify. The proposal is aimed at removing this inequality by permitting all former members of either House to maintain their official passports even if they quit office before completing a full term.

The proposed clause says that “a retired parliamentarian who has taken oath as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) or the Senate, whether for a full term or for the remainder of the term of another member, shall, subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed, be entitled to retain and use the gratis official (blue) passport issued to him or her after ceasing to hold office”.

The reform would apply to lawmakers who leave the NA before five years or the Senate before six years.

Under the current Passport Rules 2021, former lawmakers are entitled to blue passports if they have served a complete term in either of the two Houses.

The statement of purposes and reasons of the bill argues that the amendment “provides parity with the privileges available to other high ranking officials and ensures uniform treatment of persons who have served the state at the highest level”.

The Senate also shelved another bill to provide blue passports to retired lawmakers’ spouses and dependant children under 28 after treasury members opposed the measure.