Muneeb Farooq | Subcommittee meeting underway to decide Nawaz Sharif’s ECL case

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the federal cabinet’s sub-committee presided over by Law Minister Farogh Naseem is underway to decide the removal of Nawaz Sharif’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL). According to sources, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Atta Tarar was also in attendance at the meeting. "No one invited me, I have come here to get an update," he was quoted by the sources as saying. Earlier, Tarar had clarified the party’s position on the meeting of the Federal Cabinet’s subcommittee over Nawaz’s removal from the ECL and said they had not been informed about it. Speaking to Geo News, Tarar said, “We are not boycotting the committee meeting. We were not informed about the meeting scheduled for today.” “If the committee calls us, we will go and attend the meeting,” he said. The PML-N deputy general-secretary further said the party’s stance on the issue was clear that they have submitted a surety bond to the court. PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb also rejected reports of boycott by the party. “Shehbaz Sharif's representative Attaullah Tader and Dr Adnan informed the sub-committee on the matter yesterday. Reports of PML-N boycotting the sub-committee meeting are baseless and misleading,” the spokesperson was quoted by PML-N’s official Twitter account. Earlier, reports of PML-N boycotting the sub-committee meeting had emerged over the cabinet’s demands to submit surety bonds. The federal cabinet on Tuesday had decided that if Nawaz wanted to leave Pakistan then he should submit a surety bond to the government. However, the PML-N supremo had rejected the demand. Reports circulating that the panel would take its decision by today were also rejected by the law ministry. "It is incorrectly being displayed and broadcasted in the media that the order of the sub-committee shall be announced at 10am on 13-11-2019. This is incorrect. The sub-committee will announce its decision as soon as practicable but there is no determined time," a statement from the law ministry said. While speaking to Geo News last night, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said PML-N and National Accountability Bureau were asked to submit their reply before 10am today. According to the special assistant both the parties were asked to inform the committee if there was a change in their stance. He had said the subcommittee would send its recommendations to the Federal Cabinet after receiving replies from the anti-graft body and the Sharif family. Akbar said that the PML-N supremo had refused to go abroad for treatment on the condition of a surety bond set by the cabinet. While defending the government’s decision, the special assistant said that seeking a surety bond and return date was not a new thing. He added that there is no precedent which shows that a convict’s name has been removed from the ECL.