Half of Bureaucrasy Accquired Property & Portugese Citizenship:Khawja Asif

Islamabad 6 August: Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, used his official X (formerly Twitter) account to claim that over half of the country’s bureaucrats have acquired property in Portugal and are preparing to obtain foreign citizenship.

This is the first time a sitting minister has accused the top bureaucrats, and country’s senior civil servants to have indulged in corruption by acquiring property in Portugal and preparing to obtain foreign citizenship.

Sources reveal that many of these officials are high-profile and influential figures, some allegedly involved in multi-billion-rupee corruption scandals. Despite this, they have quietly retired and are now living in comfort abroad.

In one striking case, a close aide to former Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar reportedly received Rs. 4 billion in wedding gifts during his daughters’ weddings — and has since retired without any accountability.

“Politicians only get what is left over by them (bureaucrats) and still get blamed for everything,” he said, adding that most politicians do not own plots or foreign citizenship because they have to face the public and contest elections.

Calling the actions of these bureaucrats shameful, Asif said, “This bureaucracy is polluting our land.”

Critics argue that while politicians often face public scrutiny, they neither possess foreign properties nor dual nationality, largely because they are bound to contest elections and stay in the public eye. In contrast, bureaucrats have allegedly exploited their positions to acquire benami assets, overseas plots, and foreign citizenships, often evading accountability.

Analysts say this trend is undermining public trust in state institutions, as such actions contradict principles of transparency and public service. There are growing calls for the government to publicly release a list of officials who own foreign property or have applied for second citizenship.

Legal experts stress that under current regulations, civil servants are required to declare all foreign assets and nationality applications, and failure to do so may result in legal action. However, weak enforcement and political considerations have long hampered the effectiveness of accountability mechanisms.

READ MORE: FBR Demands Actual Property Prices in Tax Filings

To restore public confidence, experts are urging swift and transparent investigations into the matter, warning that unchecked corruption and abuse of power pose a serious threat to governance and state integrity.