Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been granted bail on health grounds in the multiple cases against him, is scheduled to fly out to London for treatment Monday morning.
According to the tickets booked in his name, Sharif will be flying out from Lahore on a commercial flight of Qatar Airways and 09:05 am in the morning. He will be accompanied by his brother Shehbaz Sharif and his personal doctor Dr Adnan Khan.
Nawaz’s daughter Maryam Nawaz will not be able to accompany her father abroad as she had to surrender her passport in order to secure her release on bail in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.
The return ticket has been booked for November 27.
Despite the booking of tickets, media reports suggest that Nawaz’s name is still on the Exit Control List (ECL) and both the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Ministry of Interior couldn’t arrive at a decision regarding the removal of the name of the PML-N supremo from the ECL for one reason or another.
Chairman PML-N Raja Zafarul Haq speaking to a private media outlet said, “All the arrangements for his [Nawaz Sharif’s] treatment abroad have been finalized, and we are now just waiting for the government to remove his name from the ECL [Exit Control List.”
However, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi denied these allegations and said that the government had not created any hurdles to prevent Nawaz from travelling, adding that Sharif was allowed to go anywhere for his medical treatment.
PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb asserted that Sharif’s condition was critical and it was pertinent that he be sent abroad for treatment. She revealed that a high dose of steroids had been administered to Nawaz in preparation for his expected departure on Monday.
“Doctors have warned against giving him such high doses of steroids repeatedly,” she said. “They cannot risk any further damage in trying to get his platelet levels to rise.”
Aurangzeb said that the drop in the former premier’s platelet levels continues to worry doctors and that if Nawaz’s health worsens any further, it will be “almost impossible to take him abroad”.
Nawaz — who was previously hesitant to go abroad for treatment — is reportedly only going on the insistence of his ageing mother. As far as him flying out Monday morning is concerned, we’ll have to wait and watch.
