Daily Times

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Aashiq Awan on Wednesday said the government’s letter to UK government regarding return of Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan has irked the entire PML-N.

Talking to media outside the Parliament House, Dr Firdous said the entire nation received an update about the health of the former prime minister from the PML-N leadership after a letter was written to the UK government. She said PML-N is itself playing politics on the health issues of Nawaz Sharif, but blaming Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government for the same. The government has only asked about the update on his health, she added.

The entire nation is curious to know that what kind of surgery is this whose arrangements are yet to be completed, said Dr Firdous, adding that the disease of Nawaz Sharif could not diagnosed so far in London. She asked that what kind of treatment Nawaz Sharif is going through that he has not been hospitalized even for a single day and enjoying his time with family at home.

She said an ‘immature’ politician form Sindh accused the government the other day of curbing media rights whereas he himself failed to provide justice to a journalist family who was killed in his province for speaking the truth. Everybody is aware of the fact of media freedom in the province of Sindh, therefore instead of making false claims, he should try to provide justice to the family of the slain journalist in Sindh, she maintained.

She said the government is making all-out efforts to revive the institutions which were crippled during the tenure of the previous governments. She said the dead institutes will be privatised in a transparent manner and in accordance with the international law. She further said Prime Minister Imran Khan is carefully spending every single penny of Pakistan for the welfare of people and will throw out black sheep from all institutions with the support of the people of Pakistan.

Earlier, during a press conference, PML-N leader Musadiq Malik said that the government is ‘misstating’ facts regarding Nawaz’s health. “It was the government that took the decision about Nawaz’s board … it was the board that decided to send Nawaz abroad for treatment. This was the government’s decision and now they are misstating facts,” he said, adding that doctors from London and US have examined the former premier and all arrangements are being made before his next surgery.

Referring to a statement made by the party chief earlier this month that Nawaz’s treatment has been delayed twice because his daughter was not granted bail to be with him, Malik said, “It is our wish that surgery not be delayed if we do not get justice”. “The government spokesperson says that we haven’t submitted [Nawaz’s] reports. We have submitted reports to the Lahore High Court (LHC), the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the Punjab government on December 4, Dec 21, January 13 and February 12,” he added.

Former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah claimed that Nawaz Sharif is likely to undergo proper treatment this week or the next week. Talking to media persons outside the Lahore High Court, to a question about the tentative date for the arrival of Shehbaz Sharif to Pakistan, Rana said that he is likely to return during this month. He said that Shehbaz Sharif is staying in London due to consistently deteriorating health of the former premier.