As the passport of deposed prime minister and PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif expires tonight, the government has refused to renew it but said it will issue a special certificate to enable his return if he so desires.
In December, Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed had announced to cancel Sharif’s passport once it expired at midnight on February 16 (today).
After spending a year in prison, Sharif, 71, secured a conditional bail in November 2019 to travel to London on the pretext of medical treatment and has since refused to return.
His party insists that despite being summoned by the courts, that declared him a proclaimed offender in separate corruption probes, the former premier will only return after the completion of his medical treatment.
“The names of Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz are on the Exit Control List (ECL) since August 20, 2018,” Ahmed said during a press briefing in Islamabad. “Those who have their names in the no-fly list are not issued passports, neither are they renewed.”
Ahmed observed it was Islamabad High Court (IHC) that ordered Sharif to return to the country.
Seperately, he told Arab News that the deposed premier did not wish to return to Pakistan of his own choice, not because of an issue with his passport.
“If he [Sharif] wants to return, we can issue an emergency travel document (ETD) to him,” he said.
In October, Islamabad asked “duty-bound” London to deport Sharif to serve out his seven-year sentence in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference.
The letter cited England’s immigration laws of 1974 under which any person sentenced to imprisonment of more than four years had to be deported to the country of their origin.
PTI TO DOMINATE POST-POLL SENATE:
He also expressed the confidence that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) will emerge victorious in the forthcoming Senate elections.
He said there will be political stability and a reduction in rumour-mongering after the polls.
He further said the country will move forward in terms of finance under the able leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The minister said the network of NADRA offices will be expanded at the tehsil level. He said the agency will issue 100,000 CNICs a day.
He said the fee for ten-year passports has also been reduced.
