Daily Times

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) quaid Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz have extended their stay in London as doctors treating Begam Kulsoom Nawaz have decided to keep her on life support until her condition improves further.

The decision followed a two-hour meeting between Sharif family members and the doctors’s panel at the Harley Street Clinic where Begum Kulsoom is admitted. The doctors have yet to specify a timeframe for her recovery but they have reportedly advised Nawaz to spend time with his wife.

The two PML-N leaders were earlier scheduled to return to the country on Sunday to join hearings of the three accountability references against them.

Nawaz and Maryam’s legal counsels will now submit applications seeking exemption for them from attending hearings. Begum Kulsoom’s medical report and a letter penned by her doctor will be attached with the application, media reports said on Monday.

The elder Sharif and his daughter left the country ahead of the Eid break last week after Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar granted them permission to visit Begum Kulsoom in London. The two PML-N leaders had on June 7 sought a five-day exemption from appearance before the accountability court in the corruption references.

Begum Kulsoom has been admitted to the hospital, where she is on life support, since June 14 and is undergoing medical treatment.

Speaking to the media about her condition on Sunday, Hussain Nawaz, her elder son, said that she was still ‘unconscious’. “The doctors are making every possible effort to help her recover,” he said, adding that he hoped that his mother would regain her health soon. In his comment to reporters, while leaving the clinic, Nawaz said, “Begum Kulsoom was still unconscious and on the ventilator. I pray to Allah for her quick recovery.”

After his visit, also on Sunday, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif said the doctors were constantly monitoring Begum Kulsoom’s condition. Various political leaders and other notables visited the hospital to inquire about her health. On a special directive from PTI chairman Imran Khan, a group of leaders of his party also visited the hospital and offered sympathies. Begum Kulsoom was admitted to the hospital in London in August last year, after doctors discovered she was suffering from throat cancer. She has been undergoing treatment since.

Published in Daily Times, June 19^th 2018.