Islamabad, Dec 23 The Pakistan government has decided not to allow former Prime Minister’s daughter Maryam Nawaz to travel abroad and rejected her application in this regard.
“The rules concerning placement of the name of persons on Exit Control List (ECL) do not allow the government to entertain her application to remove her name from the no-fly list,” Babar Awan, a senior lawyer and aide to the Prime Minister, told Dawn news on Sunday.
Headed by Law Minister Farogh Naseem, the subcommittee of the federal cabinet that deals with ECL cases rejected her plea, as she had sought the facility for flying to London to look after her ailing father, Awan said.
“In fact the subcommittee is part of the cabinet and a formal announcement to bar Maryam from travelling abroad will be made by the federal cabinet in its meeting (on Tuesday),” he added.
Earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan after the December 18 meeting of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) core committee had also said that the government would not accept Maryam’s request.
In response, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said the government’s decision did not surprise anyone, considering that the PTI regime had always been desperately looking for opportunities to victimise and persecute the PML-N leadership.
“The decision of the sub-committee has no logical reason for keeping Maryam on the ECL,” she added.
Sunday’s development comes after the Lahore High Court on December 9 sent Maryam’s plea to the review committee and had given the government seven days to decide on the matter.
The PTI-led federal cabinet Maryam’s name on the no-fly list on the National Accountability Bureau’s request on August 20, 2018, The Express Tribune reported.
Maryam had also sought one-time permission to travel abroad for six weeks from the date of departure.
