Pakistan’s ailing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has heeded doctors advice and given in to his family’s request to fly to London for the treatment of his diseases, a media report said on Friday (November 8).
The development comes a day after it was reported that the 69-year-old PML(N) supremo may travel to London for further treatment along with his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif.
Sharif was shifted to his Jati Umra Raiwind residence in Lahore on Wednesday after his two-week stay at a Pakistani hospital for treatment of multiple diseases. He was admitted to the Services Hospital in Lahore on October 22 from Pakistan’s anti-graft body’s custody after his platelets dropped to a critical low level of 2,000.
“Nawaz Sharif has finally agreed to go to London after the doctors told him categorically that they had already exhausted all medical treatment [options] available in Pakistan and going abroad is the only option left,” a Sharif family member told the Dawn newspaper.
He said Sharif might leave for London this week if his name was removed from the Exit Control List by the government.
“Though Mr Sharif was not ready to go abroad after the recommendations of the medical board of the Services Hospital and the medics of the Sharif Medical City and the request of his family members, he has finally agreed,” the report quoted the member of the Sharif family as saying.
He said Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz would not go with her father as she had surrendered her passport to the Lahore High Court as surety against the bail granted to her in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills corruption case.
“At the moment Nawaz Sharif’s health matters more as he is fighting for his life. Maryam Nawaz may explore the option of going to London to look after her father later,” he added.
Speaking to reporters during her appearance at Lahore’s accountability court for the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case hearing, Maryam said Sharif should go abroad for his treatment at the earliest. “Nawaz Sharifs health is very critical,” she was quoted as saying by Geo news.
Asked if any request was put forward for the removal of her and the former premiers name from the ECL, Maryam said, “I don’t know. I will look into it when I go home,” she said, adding that her uncle Shehbaz, president of PML(N) was looking into the matter.
“Politics will go on but parents will not be around,” Maryam said, adding that she was worried about her fathers health. Sharifs wife Kulsoom died of throat cancer in London last year.
Maryam was released on bail on Wednesday after her lawyers fulfilled requirements set forth by the Lahore High Court (LHC). Another local media report said the Sharif family approached the Ministry of Interior, requesting the removal of Sharif’s name from the ECL to pave way for the three-time prime minister to fly abroad for medical treatment.
Sharif suffered an angina attack during his hospitalisation and also suffers from diabetes. Sharif was lodged in the Kot Lakhpat jail but last month he was sent to the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which is probing the Sharif family in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills corruption case.
On December 24, 2018, an accountability court had sentenced Sharif to seven years in prison in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption case and acquitted him in the Flagship case.
On October 25, the Lahore High Court granted bail to Sharif, in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case, who was undergoing treatment after being diagnosed with an acute immune disorder.
On October 29, the Islamabad High Court suspended Sharif’s sentence in the Al-Azizia corruption case for eight weeks on medical grounds. The Sharif family has denied all corruption charges and termed them as politically motivated.