–PM’s aide questions silence over former PM’s health since his departure to London
SIALKOT: PM’s Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan on Saturday questioned the silence over former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s health condition ever since his departure to London when once “his every breath was being counted”.
“They (Nawaz Sharif’s representatives) kept saying Mian sahib’s life is in great danger and the media used to count every breath he took. [Now that] he has been gone for so long, we have no updates from his representatives whatsoever.
“The people of Pakistan, who were so closely following his health condition, wish to have more news from him. So does the media,” said Awan while addressing a press conference here.
Nawaz had left for London on Tuesday, 20 days after he was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court in the Al-Azizia case on medical grounds.
Awan, while declaring that “the truth can never be hidden”, also reminded the people of the former premier’s words for his “beloved” country.
“The former prime minister with his sleeves rolled up had been seen going to every village in the country and declaring ‘I will not only respect the vote while living here in Pakistan but I also dedicate my entire life and death to this country’.”
She also questioned why the doctors abroad had not issued any sort of advisory over his treatment.
“Doctors had said the illness could only be treated abroad. But now, ever since he has been gone, we have not seen a final recommendation by the foreign doctors.
“We know full well the true nature of his illness and their (the Sharif family’s) associated agenda,” said the spokesperson.
Awan also criticised the “role” played by Nawaz’s brother Shehbaz Sharif over the course of the former’s illness and said that it was the first time that a person, who is named in multiple corruption cases, assumed the role of a guarantor.
In order to secure permission for Nawaz to leave the country for medical treatment, Shehbaz had signed an undertaking, approved by the Lahore High Court, which stated that the PML-N president would “ensure return” of his brother “within four weeks or on certification by doctors that he has regained his health and is fit to return back to Pakistan”.
Awan’s remarks come a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed doubts over the nature of the PML-N supreme leader’s health predicament, saying he was shocked to see the way the former premier ran up the stairs of the air ambulance.
“After seeing him going up the plane stairs, I once again went through the medical reports that suggested he has a heart problem, his kidneys are also not functioning properly and that he is a diabetic,” the premier had told a gathering in his hometown on Friday.
The premier noted that Sharif’s medical reports listed 15 diseases, including cardiac complications, which suggested that the ex-premier was on the verge of demise.
“But after seeing Nawaz board the air ambulance, I wondered if the former prime minister got healthy with the first glance of the London-bound airplane,” he had said.
