Senate Rejects Bill to Restrict Diplomatic Passport Issuance for Officials
The Upper House also passed a consumer protection bill, banned all plastic book covers in Islamabad, and unanimously backed a Kashmir resolution.
ISLAMABAD – (Staff Reporter/Web Desk) – The Senate on Monday rejected a private member’s bill that aimed to limit the diplomatic passport facility for ministers of state, advisers, special assistants and senior officials.
The session also saw a loud exchange between government and opposition senators. The PPP staged a walkout, while the PTI raised objections over changes in constituency details in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Why the passport bill was rejected
PTI Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman, who heads the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, moved the Passports (Amendment) Bill, 2026. Senators Samina Mumtaz Zehri and Saifullah Abro supported him.
Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry opposed it. He said the bill tried to change the cabinet’s authority without proper study.
Senator Faisal replied that diplomatic passports should go only to people whose official work truly needs them. PPP Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro argued that a minister of state is also a representative of parliament.
What the bill proposed
The bill wanted to add Section 12A to the Passports Act, 1974. No diplomatic passport would be issued or renewed for ministers of state, advisers, special assistants, federal secretaries (except the foreign secretary) or director generals only because of their office.
Current holders would have to return their passports within 30 days. They could still get ordinary or official passports if eligible.
Other business in the House
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman and PML-N Senator Nasir Butt had a heated argument during the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2026. PPP senators then walked out. The bill, moved by BAP Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, passed with 10 votes in favour and four against.
The House also passed, without opposition, a bill to remove an exemption from the plastic book cover ban in Islamabad. Ms Rehman said shopkeepers called every plastic “biodegradable,” and the country has no lab to test it.
Bills for Iqra Global University, the Special Technology Zones Authority and a CrPC amendment also passed. The Islamabad Metro Bus Service Bill, 2026 was deferred.
PTI questions the ECP
PTI leader Barrister Syed Ali Zafar criticised the Election Commission for changing constituency descriptions without hearing public objections. He said Section 22 of the Elections Act, 2017 must be followed. He also asked why a new chief election commissioner has not been appointed.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said he would seek details from the ECP.
The House unanimously adopted a resolution backing the right to self-determination of the people of Indian-occupied Kashmir, ahead of Kashmir Black Day on October 27.
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