Key Takeaways
- The Senate blocked a bill aimed at restricting the issuance of diplomatic passports.
- Opponents argued the amendment would undermine the authority of the cabinet.
- The bill sought to limit diplomatic passports to ministers only, with others required to surrender existing ones.
The Senate on Monday rejected a bill proposed by PTI Senator Faisal Saleem Rahman that sought to restrict the issuance of diplomatic passports to ministers of state, advisers, special assistants, and senior bureaucrats.
Senator Faisal Saleem Rahman, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, moved the bill alongside senators Samina Mumtaz Zehri and Saifullah Abro. The bill aimed to amend the Passports Act 1974 by inserting a new Section 12A, which would restrict the issuance of diplomatic passports to ministers only, with other office-holders required to surrender their existing passports within 30 days.
State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudhry opposed the bill, stating that it targeted the authority of the cabinet. Senator Faisal responded that the bill was about ensuring diplomatic passports were issued only to ministers, emphasizing that such passports should not be distributed as a privilege.
Despite the opposition, the Senate passed another bill, the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2026, with 10 votes in favor and four against. The bill, moved by Senator Zehri, was followed by a heated exchange between PML-N’s Nasir Butt and PPP’s Sherry Rehman, leading to a PPP walkout.
The House also unanimously passed a bill to amend the law banning plastic book covers in the federal capital, removing an exemption clause that allowed its misuse. PTI parliamentary leader Barrister Syed Ali Zafar raised concerns over the re-description of several national and provincial assembly constituencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, deploring that the revisions were made without hearing public objections.
He demanded clear answers from the Election Commission of Pakistan and also expressed concern over the delay in appointing a successor to the chief election commissioner.
The House also unanimously adopted a resolution reaffirming Pakistan’s support for the right to self-determination of the people of India-occupied Kashmir on the occasion of Kashmir Black Day, observed on October 27.
