Pakistan’s blue-passport controversy should be read through a short chronology of expanding privileges on the part of militro-judicial-civil complex of Pakistan. In May 2018, former parliamentarians and their spouses were allowed to retain blue passports. Schedule III of the Passport Rules, 2021 then consolidated a sprawling collection of public officeholders, judges, senior civil and military officers, legislators and, in many categories, spouses, parents and dependent children up to 28. 

A notification of August 9, 2023 enlarged the entitlement of serving and retired BPS-22 civil servants and equivalent officers to include spouses, parents and dependent children under 28. In May 2026, 42 selected ‘top taxpayers’ were designated ambassadors-at-large on the prime minister’s direction and approved for blue passports; most had reportedly already received them. Officials simultaneously floated a specially coloured passport for businessmen above a tax threshold. The colour ladder was preparing another rung. 

Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir then introduced the Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeking gratis official passports for former MPs, their spouses and their adult dependent children. In May, the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs deferred the proposal after the Interior and Parliamentary Affairs ministries opposed it and members questioned discrimination by passport colour. 

Pakistan’s blue passport controversy should be read through a short chronology of expanding privileges on the part of military-judicial-civil complex of Pakistan.

Pakistan’s blue passport controversy should be read through a short chronology of expanding privileges on the part of military-judicial-civil complex of Pakistan.

On July 10, 2026, another Senate committee unanimously recommended the same bill. The Senate’s own legislative tracker recorded on August 20 that the Interior Committee recommended passage but no further notice had been received. This is not a coherent policy process. It is competitive privilege seeking through whichever administrative or legislative route remains open.

Pakistan’s opinion pages invariably prescribe the same cure for every national illness: broaden the tax base, increase exports, reform state-owned enterprises, empower youth, improve governance and summon political will. A recent account of Pakistan’s growth trap contains much of this familiar menu. None is objectionable. The analytical failure is that desired outcomes do not identify the blocking institution, its beneficiaries or the rule requiring change. The blue-passport........

© The Friday Times