ISLAMABAD: The federal government is expected to decide on Tuesday whether opposition leader Maryam Nawaz should be removed from the country’s no-fly list.
The Lahore High Court on Monday directed the government to decide on Maryam’s petition to temporarily lift the travel ban and allow her to visit in London her ailing father, former premier Nawaz Sharif.
“The federal cabinet will take up the matter in tomorrow’s meeting, but we don’t expect a favorable decision,” Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, chairman of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), told Arab News on Monday.
While a federal cabinet sub-committee authorized to decide on Exit Control List (ECL) issues has already rejected Maryam’s application, the government itself has yet to decide.
“The cabinet will most probably endorse the sub-committee’s decision,” Haq said, “and we will then approach the court to plead our case.”
The PML-N chairman said that Maryam, the party’s vice president, had sought one-time permission to fly to London. “The government should show magnanimity and allow Maryam to visit her father who is fighting for his life,” he said.
Maryam is currently on bail in a corruption case. Her name has been on the no-fly list since August, following a request by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). On Dec. 9, the court directed the government to decide within seven days whether her name could be removed from the list.
Last month, the court allowed former premier Sharif to travel abroad for four weeks on medical grounds. Sharif is on bail in corruption cases, in which he was sentenced to seven years in prison. He left for London on Nov. 19. The four-week period can be extended on his doctors’ recommendation, the court said.
Haq, who is also a close aide to Sharif, said that the former prime minister’s lawyer had submitted a court plea seeking an extension to his medical stay abroad. “We hope the court will allow Nawaz Sharif to stay abroad till his recovery … and he will return to Pakistan as soon his health improves,” he said.
