The matter of removing Nawaz Sharif’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL) remained undecided on Wednesday as a meeting of the cabinet’s sub-committee scheduled to take place in the morning was postponed.
Punjab Health Secretary Momin Agha, who had arrived for the meeting, told DawnNewsTV that it did not take place. The head of the medical board formed for Nawaz’s health, Services Hospital Principal Dr Mahmood Ayaz, had also arrived in the morning to attend the meeting.
There may have been a miscommunication about the meeting, Dr Ayaz told DawnNewsTV.
No official notification or statement was made in this regard.
After marathon meetings of the federal cabinet and its sub-committee on Tuesday, Nawaz had refused to travel abroad for his medical treatment under the conditions proposed by the government. The government had asked that the PML-N supremo’s brother Shehbaz Sharif or his daughter Maryam submit on his behalf surety bonds equivalent to the fines imposed on him in the two corruption cases — Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Avenfield properties.
“If Nawaz Sharif leaves the country and does not come back, NAB and the courts can ask us that why the government had allowed Nawaz Sharif to proceed abroad,” the prime minister was quoted as saying in yesterday’s federal cabinet meeting.
But the deadlock hampering the former premier’s chances of travelling abroad for medical treatment persisted as PML-N refused to submit the surety bonds. Speaking to reporters after the meeting yesterday, PML-N leader Ataullah Tarar said the party had already submitted surety bonds in the Lahore and Islamabad high courts to secure Nawaz’s bail and that the issue of Nawaz’s medical treatment was already discussed in the courts.
“There is no need to submit further surety at any forum,” he had said.
Speaking to the media in the morning today, Tarar said that PML-N representatives had not been asked to appear before the sub-committee meeting. However, the head of the committee had told them that if they change their stance on the surety bonds, they should inform the committee.
Tarar added that the party had not changed its position.
Additionally, party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb refuted reports that PML-N had decided to boycott the sub-committee meeting, clarifying that they had never been invited to attend it.
Meanwhile, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said the government had taken a “big step”.
