ISLAMABAD: In its maiden session chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, the newly elected federal cabinet on Monday decided to place names of the three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam on the Exit Control List (ECL).
Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry announced this before media following the meeting that took place after the President Mamnoon Hussain took oath of Imran Khan’s 16-member cabinet at the Presidency.
Sharif, Maryam and her husband, Captain (Retd) Safdar are currently serving jail terms after being convicted on July 6 by an accountability court in Avenfield reference, one of the four corruption cases filed against Sharifs and former finance minister Ishaq Dar in line with apex court’s July 28, 2017 verdict.
Discussing the key policy decisions taken during the moot, Chaudhry said the cabinet also approved a plan to approach the British authorities to take control of Avenfield properties. “Efforts would also be made to bring back Ishaq Dar and Sharif’s sons for trial before the accountability court,” he added.
In another major policy move, Chaudhry said, the cabinet has imposed an immediate ban on foreign tours of ministers and other government functionaries. “Prime Minister Imran Khan will also not make any foreign tour, barring any urgency, at least in his first three months in office,” he added.
PM Khan on Sunday, in his maiden speech to the nation, outlined his government’s policy to cut down expenditures and minimize the privileges enjoyed by the ruling class in a bid to steer the county out of the current financial crisis.
The minister confirmed that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would represent Pakistan at the upcoming the UN General Assembly session in New York.
According to the minister, the cabinet also constituted a task force headed by Mirza Shahzad Akbar, the former deputy prosecutor of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), to look into options regarding bringing back the looted money from abroad. “The cabinet has also decided that the process of accountability will start from the prime minister and his ministers,” he added.
The cabinet also approved a raft of policy measures including constituting a task force to look into the government properties being in use of district and other officers. The task force after examining all the government properties would recommend how to convert those for the public welfare.
“The [state-run] Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) has also been given full liberty to also give coverage to opposition parties,” the minister said.
The cabinet also condemned the recent publication of blasphemous caricature in a Dutch newspaper. Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands was later summoned to the Foreign Office for a formal protest.
Agencies add: Meanwhile, the Minister said the cabinet has withdrawn medical facility abroad for ministers and members of the parliament. He said auction of extra luxury vehicles of the Prime Minister House was also approved.
He said two committees have been formed to review heritage and general properties of the state to make them beneficial for the common people.
Fawad Chaudhry made it clear that employees working on these properties will be given complete service protection and they will not be deprived of their jobs.
Fawad Chaudhry said an accountability task force has been established to bring back all illegal assets made by Pakistanis abroad. The Minister also condemned blasphemous caricatures.