Daily Times

LAHORE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has returned home on Saturday evening after spending more than a month and a half recovering from successful open-heart surgery in London.

PM Nawaz went to London on May 22 where he underwent an open heart surgery on May 31. This was his second cardiac procedure in five years.

A special Boeing-777 plane of the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flight had been tasked to bring back him back to Pakistan. The plane landed at Lahore Airport, Hajj terminal.

Punjab Governor Rafique Rajwana, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, federal ministers, senior party leaders and PM Nawaz’s close friends were also present at the airport to receive him.

Strict security measures were adopted on the arrival of PM Nawaz. Over 1800 police personnel were deployed at the airport. A helicopter was also present at the airport to take PM Nawaz to his residence at Raiwind.

Talking to the media persons in London before departure, the prime minister thanked the entire nation for praying for his good health. He also prayed to Allah Almighty for the security of the country and the well-being of the nation.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, the sending of the special PIA plane had sparked protest from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The party demanded that the flight operation be carried out on the prime minister’s own expense.

His visit to London had taken place amid heated environment in the Pakistani political fields with heightened demands from the opposition parties to conduct a thorough judicial probe of the PM Nawaz’s alleged offshore wealth.

Panama Papers leaks from the Mossack Fonseca law firm showed that the prime minister’s three children – sons, Hassan and Hussain, and his daughter, Maryam – owned at least three offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The government had asked the Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali to form a commission to probe the leaks, but he had called for developing terms of reference (ToR) mutually agreed by the government and the opposition before the body is formed.

Subsequently, a committee comprising members of the government and the opposition was constituted to formulate the ToRs but the dialogue ended in a stalemate and failed to evolve consensus on the issue.