During official trip, Senate officer’s third wife seeks asylum in Europe with kids: Officer comes back alone

An officer of the Senate of Pakistan, Haider Ali, was nominated to attend the International Parliamentary Union meeting in Geneva. However, he also took his wife and children along. It has now come to light that while Haider Ali has returned, his family has applied for political asylum in a European Union country.

When this matter of the misconduct of a Senate officer came to the attention of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, he expressed strong displeasure and imposed a ban on the issuance of note verbale by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not only for Senate officers’ families but also for National Assembly officers’ families.

The guidelines confirm that the family of the Joint Secretary of the Senate, Haider Ali, has applied for political asylum in a European country. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after being nominated by the Senate of Pakistan to attend the International Parliamentary Union meeting in March 2024, Haider Ali obtained a note verbale for himself and an introductory letter for his family.

The note verbale issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assists government employees and their families in obtaining visas. In guidelines available to Urdu News, the Foreign Ministry has addressed the Secretary of the Senate, the Secretary of the National Assembly, and the relevant section of the Foreign Ministry.

Later, the Foreign Ministry discovered that his family had applied for political asylum in a Western European country, which became an embarrassment for the nation. The ministry stated that this act has further increased the difficulties already faced by government officials traveling abroad.

Following this incident, with the approval of Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, new visa notice guidelines have been issued, signed by Foreign Secretary Cyrus Sajjad Qazi.

These guidelines are not only applicable to Senate and National Assembly officers but also to members of both houses traveling abroad. In the future, notes verbale, preliminary notes verbale, and introductory letters will be issued based on these new guidelines.

According to the new guidelines, notes verbal will be issued for official tours with diplomatic or official passports upon a formal request from the National Assembly or Senate Secretariat. For private tours, note verbale will be issued upon a formal request for those holding official passports.

Accompanying family members with private passports will receive introductory letters on official and private tours with senators or MNAs. A formal agreement will be required from family members that they will not seek asylum or misuse the introductory letter.

Unlike in the past, introductory letters will no longer be issued to the families of Senate or National Assembly employees for official or private tours.

It has been revealed that Joint Secretary Haider Ali is a close friend of former Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. His wife, who applied for political asylum in the European country, is his third wife and worked as an operator in the Senate of Pakistan.

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