LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) member of Sindh Assembly Khurram Sher Zaman on Thursday confirmed to have coronavirus.
According to PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, Sharif, 68, has isolated himself at home.
Another party leader Ataullah Tarar said that Sharif’s “life had been endangered in this situation by National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) summoning of him”.
“NAB was informed multiple times in writing that Shehbaz Sharif has suffered from cancer and compared to other people, his immunity system is weak,” Tarar said and added that Sharif had only left home to appear before the anti-graft agency.
Interestingly, Sharif, who has used the pandemic as an excuse to skip NAB hearings, did not stop party workers and leaders from turning up in large numbers outside the Lahore High Court where he had appeared on Wednesday to secure pre-arrest bail in the money laundering and assets beyond means cases against him. The party leadership present on the occasion included former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, 61, and party’s Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal, both of whom have tested positive for the disease.
“[Prime Minister] Imran Niazi and NAB will be responsible if something happens to Shehbaz Sharif,” Tarar said.
ZAMAN TESTS POSITIVE:
PTI Karachi chapter president Khurram Sher Zaman has also tested positive for Covid-19, he said through a tweet.
طبیعت خراب ہونے کی وجہ سے خود کو پچھلے پانچ دن سے کورنٹائن کیا ہوا تھا اور آج ٹیسٹ کروایا تو میرا رزلٹ مثبت آیا ہے.
— Khurrum Sher Zaman 🇵🇰 (@KhurrumZamanPTI) June 10, 2020
Zaman has been vocal about his opposition to a lockdown in Sindh to curb the spread of the disease and had criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for insisting on imposing one. Last month, the MPA had said that the PTI will “stand against” the PPP government if it decides to further extend the lockdown in Sindh’s urban areas.
