Home Latest News Government Grants New Passport to Nawaz Sharif

Government Grants New Passport to Nawaz Sharif

Former prime minister has been in London since 2019, with ousted PTI-led government having refused to grant him a new passport after his previous documents expired

by Staff Report

File photo. Tolga Akmen—AFP

The Government of Pakistan has removed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL) and issued him a new, green passport, enabling him to travel outside of the U.K., where he has been in residence since 2019.

The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader’s new passport is of the “ordinary” category—and not the diplomatic passport that is granted to former heads of government—and was issued on April 23, according to official documents. It is valid for 10 years and was sought on an “urgent” basis.

Then-interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had, on Dec. 30, 2020, announced that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government would cancel Sharif’s diplomatic passport on Feb. 16, 2021. Local media subsequently reported that the date for the “cancellation” coincided with the expiry date of the diplomatic passport, as all “red” (diplomatic) passports have a five-year validity; the former premier’s passport was issued on Feb. 18, 2016.

At the time, Ahmed had claimed that while the government would not grant a new passport to an “absconder,” Sharif would be granted “special permission” to travel if he returned to Pakistan to face justice.

Last week, incumbent Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, a member of the PMLN, had said that a diplomatic passport was Nawaz Sharif’s right as a former prime minister and would be issued to him. “It is unfortunate that a person who has been prime minister thrice is being deprived of national citizenship,” he had added.

Orders for Sharif’s passport to be issued to him were reportedly issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his younger brother, shortly after he assumed power. It is widely believed that this is part of steps being undertaken by the new coalition government to facilitate the return of the elder Sharif ahead of general elections, during which he is likely to head the campaign for his party.

The PMLN leader was initially granted an eight-week bail on medical grounds in October 2019; a month later, he was allowed to travel abroad for treatment for four weeks. However, despite the passage of more than two years, he remains in London, with the PMLN claiming he would only return after he his doctors allowed him to do so.

Former prime minister Imran Khan has repeatedly slammed Sharif’s failure to return, claiming that his government was provided with “fake medical reports” that showed the PMLN leader’s health was worse than reality. Earlier this year, he claimed that allowing Sharif to leave Pakistan was a “major mistake” of his party, adding that it had severely dented its accountability drive.

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