Pak govt decides not to remove Maryam from no-fly list

The Pakistan government on Tuesday decided that the name of PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz would not be removed from the no-fly list, quashing her efforts to travel abroad.

Maryam, the 46-year-old daughter of Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was placed on the no-fly list in August 2018. She wanted to travel London to see her ailing father.

Government's chief spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan told media that federal cabinet has decided to keep her name on the Exit Control List (ECL) as recommended by a sub-committee of the cabinet. The ECL lists those barred from leaving Pakistan.

"The cabinet unanimously rejected the request to remove the name from ECL of the VIP (Maryam) personality you are inquiring about," Awan said in response to a question at the press briefing after the cabinet meeting.

Maryam had approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) twice with a request to remove her name from the no-fly list.

The court on December 9 directed the federal government to decide on the matter within seven days, but the government failed to follow the deadline.

Later, Maryam again petitioned the court which on December 21 directed the government to take action. The court while ordering the government for second time to decide the matter also fixed the next hearing of the case on December 26.

It seemed that the government wanted that the court should decide the issue of Maryam's travelling abroad in order to avoid the public backlash as why she was allowed to go out of the country.

Sharif, the PML-N supremo, had left for London on November 19 in an air ambulance to seek medical treatment in London, a month after the three-time premier was released on bail from a seven-year prison sentence for corruption.