ISLAMABAD - The Ministry of Interior on Tuesday denied some media reports about placing names of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz on the exit control list (ECL) following their conviction in the Avenfield reference case.
A spokesman for the interior ministry clarified that there was no truth in the reports about placing the names of Sharif and his daughter on the no-fly list.
“The decision to include their names on the ECL would be taken after their return from abroad,” the spokesperson said. He said that a sub-committee of the cabinet would review their cases and the cabinet would take the final decision to place their names on the ECL.
On the other hand, official sources in the ministry confirmed that the names of Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur had been placed on the ECL following directions of the Supreme Court. Both were facing allegations in alleged money-laundering scam regarding the fake bank accounts.
While responding to the media reports about the placement of his father and her names on the ECL, Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday took to the Twitter and said, “Another desperate, last-ditch effort to deter us from coming to Pakistan. Miscalculation upon miscalculation.”
The former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supreme leader Nawaz Sharif has announced to return Pakistan from London along with her daughter next Friday following their conviction by an accountability court in the Avenfield reference case.
In February 2018, the bureau had requested the Ministry of Interior to place names of five members of the Sharif family including Sharif and his daughter on the ECL. The other names included his sons Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz, and his son-in-law Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar.
However, the then interior minister Ahsan Iqbal had refused to place their names on the ECL and had said that the cabinet would decide the matter. The decision was never taken until the PML-N government completed its five-year term.
In June 2018, the NAB again requested the interior ministry asking for the placement of the Sharifs names on the ECL.