LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president, Shahbaz Sharif, said on Thursday that a petition had been filed in the Lahore High Court to remove the name of his brother and ailing former premier Nawaz Sharif from the no-fly list.
He said that Sharif, who was serving his sentence on corruption charges, had been granted bail on health grounds and that the government’s conditional approval for his travel abroad for medical treatment was a “terrible demand” with “no legal, constitutional or judicial basis.”
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Shahbaz Sharif said that the government’s “intentional delay” could be life-threatening to the 69-year old thrice former premier.
The country’s law minister, Farogh Naseem, told a news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday 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.”