LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday urged the government to ensure that the best medical facilities were being provided to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who is currently lodged in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail in a corruption case.
Zardari’s comments, where he also pushed for due respect and dignity to be accorded to the three-time former premier, were part of an address to the media following a meeting with Sharif at the jail’s premises where he is currently serving a seven-year sentence.
The PPP chairman was accompanied by a delegation comprising senior party leaders Qamar Zaman Kaira, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Jameel Soomro and MPA Hasan Murtaza.
Following his meeting with Sharif, Zardari took a dig at the government by saying that not providing a heart patient with the medical care of his choice was equal to torturing a patient and denying him his rights.
On Saturday, the Punjab government’s Home Department had granted the PPP chair permission to visit Sharif, thereby approving a request made by the party’s provincial chapter president, Kaira.
“Bilawal will be allowed to meet Nawaz Sharif in accordance with jail regulations,” Dr. Shahbaz Gill, the official spokesperson of Punjab Chief Minister tweeted on Sunday. “The jail authorities have been directed in this regard,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, political analysts hinted at the possibility of an alliance between the two parties — PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) — for a joint struggle against the government.
“It’s a very significant meeting as Mian Nawaz Sharif had not met directly with Bilawal Bhutto or Asif Zardari since long. This meeting may pave way for a broad-based cooperation between the two parties,” Arif Nizami, a political analyst told Arab News.
Reasoning that “talking about any alliance was too early,” the PPP chairman said that his party had no issues in working jointly with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government either, especially on matters of national importance such as foreign policy, security, and economy.
“I visited Mian Nawaz Sharif just to inquire about his health,” Zardari said, adding that “the two parties — PPP & PML-N — have different point of views on many issues, but our cultural values teach us to respect each other and inquire about the health. Today’s meeting did not have any political agenda.”
Meanwhile, sources inside the jail told Arab News that the two leaders met in the room of the Additional Superintendent Jail where they agreed to expand the orbit of the Charter of Democracy — an agreement signed by late Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif in 2006 which was aimed at strengthening the tenets of democracy in the country.
Additionally, they agreed to move forward and work together by burying the mistakes of the past.
Zardari told Sharif that he had served the country three times and could not be confined in jail for long. Sharif, for his party, replied that the government was not serious in providing medical care; insisting that the hospital runs were just for optics as he was not being extended proper medical treatment.
Earlier this week, Sharif had refused to visit a hospital despite his family’s repeated requests, saying that the government was ‘humiliating him’ with the trips.
Sharif has been taken to several hospitals in the past few months, upon the recommendations of a medical board constituted by the government. The Punjab government has now set up a special medical care unit to look after him on the request of his daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif. The unit comprises 21 doctors from the Punjab Institute of Cardiology who have been tasked with taking care of the premier.
Bilawal demands best medical care for ailing ex-PM Sharif
Bilawal demands best medical care for ailing ex-PM Sharif
- PPP chairman visited former premier in jail and expressed concern over his deteriorating health
- Ex-PM claims government’s hospital trips were meant for humiliation and not for treatment
Pakistan opposition rallies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to demand release of Imran Khan
- PTI-led gathering calls the former PM a national hero and demands the release of all political prisoners
- Government says the opposition failed to draw a large crowd and accuses PTI of damaging its own politics
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s opposition led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party demanded the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan at a rally in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday, describing him as a national hero who continues to command public support.
The gathering came days after a rare and strongly worded briefing by the military’s media chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who dismissed Khan as “narcissistic” and “mentally ill” on Friday while responding to the former premier’s allegations that Pakistan’s chief of defense forces was responsible for undermining the constitution and rule of law.
He said that Khan was promoting an anti-state narrative which had become a national security threat.
The participants of the rally called for “civilian supremacy” and said elected representatives should be treated with respect.
“We, the people of Pakistan, regard Imran Khan as a national hero and the country’s genuinely elected prime minister, chosen by the public in the February 8, 2024 vote,” said a resolution presented at the rally in Peshawar. “We categorically reject and strongly condemn the notion that he or his colleagues pose any kind of threat to national security.”
“We demand immediate justice for Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi and all political prisoners, and call for their prompt release,” it added, referring to Khan’s wife who is also in prison. “No restrictions should be placed on Imran Khan’s meetings with his family, lawyers or political associates.”
Addressing the gathering, Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, denied his administration was not serious about security issues amid increased militant activity. However, he maintained the people of his province had endured the worst of Pakistan’s conflict with militancy and urged a rethinking of long-running security policies.
The resolution asked the federal government to restore bilateral trade and diplomatic channels with Afghanistan, saying improved cross-border ties were essential for the economic stability of the region.
The trade between the two neighbors has suffered as Pakistan accuses the Taliban administration in Kabul of sheltering and facilitating armed groups that it says launch cross-border attacks to target its civilians and security forces. Afghan officials deny the claim.
The two countries have also had deadly border clashes in recent months that have killed dozens of people on both sides.
Some participants of the rally emphasized the restoration of democratic freedoms, judicial independence and space for political reconciliation, calling them necessary to stabilize the country after years of political confrontation.
Reacting to the opposition rally, Information Minister Attaullah Tarrar said the PTI and its allies could not gather enough people.
“In trying to build an anti-army narrative, they have ruined their own politics,” he said, adding that the rally’s reaction to the military’s media chief’s statement reflected “how deeply it had stung.”
“There was neither any argument nor any real response,” he added, referring to what was said by the participants of the rally.
