LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday described the government’s decision to conditionally allow its ailing leader, Nawaz Sharif, to travel abroad for medical treatment as the worst case of political victimization.
“The PML-N strongly condemns the government’s decision to seek surety bonds before allowing Nawaz Sharif to leave the country for treatment,” the party’s chairman, Raja Zafarul Haq, said while talking to Arab News. “It is the worst form of political victimization.”
Earlier in the day, the country’s law minister, Farogh Naseem, told a news conference in Islamabad that a sub-committee looking into the issue had decided to allow the former prime minister to leave the country for medical treatment.
“However, this will be one-time permission that will be subject to the provision of indemnity bonds worth Rs7 billion rupee,” he told the media. “Sharif will be allowed to go anywhere in the world but will have to return in four weeks.”
Naseem said the permission was granted to fulfill the government’s obligation in view of the former prime minister’s “critical medical condition.”
Reacting to the conditional permission, Haq told Arab News that the government was admitting that Sharif was seriously ill but was also creating hurdles in his way to travel abroad for medical treatment.
“The court has granted him an eight-week bail,” he added, “but the government is reducing that to four weeks and imposing an irrational condition. It is highly condemnable and we strongly protest this decision.”
However, he added the decision to accept or reject the government’s offer “solely rested with Nawaz Sharif and his family.”
