New Delhi: Pakistan passed a bill to allow blue passports for children of ex-parliamentarians, and Pakistanis are not happy about it. They say the measure reflects a growing disconnect between the country’s political elite and ordinary citizens, at a time when the country continues to grapple with economic hardship and lesser public confidence in state institutions.
The bill, approved unanimously on Friday by the Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control, would allow dependent children under the age of 28 of former parliamentarians to receive blue passports.
This is a privilege already available to the dependent children of retired Grade-22 civil servants, the highest rank in Pakistan’s bureaucracy. Introduced as a private member’s bill by Senator Abdul Qadir, the legislation seeks to place former legislators on equal footing with senior government officials. Qadir is also associated with Imran Khan’s PTI. The bill is yet to become a law but criticisms abound.
The Members of Parliament Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was approved by the Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control, Dawn reported.
State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudhry distanced himself from the legislation, saying he had opposed the proposal during committee deliberations. In a statement posted on X, Chaudhry said he had argued that the matter should first be reviewed by the federal cabinet and relevant stakeholders before advancing.
“Despite my reservations, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior proceeded with its decision to pass the bill,” he said.
He’s not the only one. Criticism also came from within the governing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Former Pakistani railway minister Khawaja Saad Rafique condemned the proposal, comparing it to a recently approved measure in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly expanding benefits for provincial lawmakers. Rafique argued that Pakistan’s broader system of elite privileges extends well beyond politicians.
“Until the extraordinary privileges enjoyed by politicians, bureaucrats, the higher judiciary and senior military officers are brought to an appropriate level, injustice will continue to erode society, fostering public resentment and social unrest,” he wrote on X.
Others suggested the measure reflected a broader desire among Pakistan’s political class to maintain pathways abroad.
Pakistani journalist Iftikhar Firdous described the legislation as an attempt to preserve “foreign escape routes”, arguing that Pakistan needed leaders whose futures remained tied to the country rather than protected by overseas assets and privileges.
“One of the first priorities for far too many in Pakistan’s political elite is securing blue passports and foreign escape routes. That mindset says everything. Pakistan deserves leaders whose futures are invested here, not parked in offshore accounts while asking the world to invest in the country. If you don’t have skin in the game, you shouldn’t be deciding its future,” he wrote on X.
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‘Class privilege’
The controversy has also revived a broader conversation about class privilege in Pakistan.
Umair Javed, a sociologist at Lahore University of Management Sciences, argued that the Pakistani state increasingly functions as a vehicle for social advancement among politically connected elites rather than as an institution serving the broader public.
“The Pakistani state exists to be mined for class and status mobility, esp by petit bourgeois and nouveau riche segments. This is true for both officialdom (across the bureaucracy, military, & the judiciary) & the political class,” he added on X.
Dawn journalist Khaleeq Kiani took a more patriotic narrative. “Pakistani nationality should be cancelled of those ashamed of green passport and seeking blue ones. Green passport is a sign national pride. If you don’t respect it, don’t expect outsiders will,” he wrote on X.
Pakistani military analysts echoed similar concerns. “These people about to get blue passport are probably legally or illegally overtly or covertly exempt from all these taxes and other financial burdens. I am worried that at this speed even blue (official) passport will lose its value,” Ayesha Siddiqa added on X.
TV show host and satirist Shafaat Ali had a more forceful tone: “A blue passport is an insult to the very idea of citizenship. Abolish it. If you believe you and your children are entitled to a passport that places you above the people you claim to serve, then perhaps you’ve already decided where your loyalty lies,” he said.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)