Observer Report Lahore
Former prime minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Yousuf Raza Gilani was reportedly barred from travelling abroad for an international conference, it emerged on Wednesday.
According to the PPP leader’s son Qasim Gilani, the former premier’s staff was told that his name was on the exit control list at the airport’s immigration counter.
Taking to Twitter, his other son, former MNA Syed Ali Musa Gilani, said that the government had stopped the PPP leader from proceeding to Italy on the invitation of the Italian government to represent the country during a climate summit.
“In the age of innocent until proven guilty and in a self-proclaimed democracy, the leader of the opposition is not allowed to represent Pakistan and lead the delegation of parliamentarians at an international conference.
Such is the democracy we live in!” He added that tools like the ECL only make “the tyrants of today look weak and deprive Pakistan of badly needed statesmanship at the international arena.”
This is not the first time that the former prime minister, whose name was placed on the ECL in the Trade Development Authority scandal, has been stopped from exiting the country.
In Feb 2019, Gilani was stopped from leaving the country at the Lahore airport after his name was found to be on a no-fly list.
The PPP leader had reached the Allama Iqbal International Airport to catch a flight to South Korea where he was scheduled to attend a conference.
At the immigration counter of the airport, he was informed that his name was on the exit control list and he could not leave the country.
