ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has a solid place on the Exit Control List (ECL).
Addressing a press conference after the federal cabinet meeting, he said that the cabinet had reviewed the 172 names on ECL and 32 cases have been sent to a committee for review.
He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has changed the country’s foreign policy in only six months altogether. The ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had visited the country after 12 long years and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is due this month. Pakistan played an important role in the dialogue between Washington and Taliban, and if the talks conclude positively, the entire region would benefit from peace in Afghanistan, he said. He said that now United States was following the approach of PM Khan who had always advocated dialogue for resolution of the Afghanistan issue as he believed that issues could not be resolved through wars.
On January 29, senators questioned the legality and procedural validity of ECL. Responding to a motion moved by Javed Abbasi regarding the procedure for putting names in the blacklist and legal value of the said list, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood informed the Senate that the government believes in rule of law and it cannot endorse any act repugnant to law and the Constitution. . He also emphasised on investigating as to when maintaining of blacklist had started in Pakistan. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that the House should also look into the matter that how security agencies can prevent a person involved or suspected in terrorism and white collar crimes from fleeing the country. He said that he does not defend any list other than the Exit Control List (ECL), but the no-fly list involves a complex procedure as approval of the federal cabinet is required to place a person on that list.
Speaking on his motion, Javed Abbasi said that no person should be barred from travelling if he or she has valid visa and travel documents. Sherry Rehman said that maintaining a blacklist is a violation of fundamental human rights and a question mark on the constitutional rights of a citizen. Raza Rabbani termed the list as a violation of Article 15 of the Constitution.
On January 10, the federal cabinet decided to keep names of 172 persons on ECL till the Supreme Court (SC) issued its detailed verdict on the matter. After the meeting, Fawad had said that the government would further consider the issue after the detailed verdict of the apex court and would decide whether it should file a review or not.
On December 27, the government placed 172 people, including PPP Co-chairman Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, on ECL after a joint investigation team (JIT) submitted its report in the fake accounts case.
The decision was met with backlash from opposition parties. Following the release of the list, PPP leaders had said that they are “not afraid” of things like the ECL and criticised the placement of senior PPP leaders’ names on the list. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had also categorically rejected the JIT report’s findings.
Later, when SC had directed the federal government to reconsider its decision to place 172 people on the no-fly list due to their suspected involvement in a mega money laundering case, the federal cabinet decided that the suspects’ names would be removed from ECL after reviewing the JIT’s recommendations on a case-by-case basis.
