ISLAMABAD: Accusing the Sharif family of “politicising” the ailment of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has said the government cannot send a convicted person abroad for treatment.

“Nawaz Sharif is a convicted criminal and the government is not authorised to allow a prisoner to move abroad,” said PTI’s central information secretary Omer Sarfaraz Cheema in a statement here on Saturday, advising the Sharif family to approach courts for this purpose.

In response to the allegations by the Sharif family members and leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that the government was intentionally denying medical facilities to the former prime minister, currently undergoing sentence at Kot Lakhpat jail in the Al-Azizia corruption case, the PTI office-bearer alleged that the Sharif family had put all focus on politicising ailment of Mr Sharif.

Ruling party’s information secretary says it doesn’t seem that Sharif family is serious about ex-PM’s treatment

“The Sharif family will be responsible solely if, God forbid, something happens to Nawaz Sharif,” says Mr Cheema while responding to the statement of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif in which he had stated that the government would be responsible, if something happened to his elder brother.

Mr Cheema dismissed the allegations, calling it “baseless and condemnable”.

“It doesn’t seem as per their words that the Sharif family is serious about the treatment of Nawaz Sharif,” the PTI’s information secretary added.

He reiterated that Nawaz Sharif was given facilities to continue treatment of his own choice despite the fact that millions in this country could not avail the facility. Continuing his criticism against the Sharifs, he alleged, “Instead of exhibiting seriousness, their efforts are for blackmailing the government”.

Moreover, he said, Shahbaz Sharif should tell his elder brother to “act responsibly”. He said that by not allowing doctors to treat him in the hospital, “Nawaz Sharif is putting pressure on courts so he can run away”.

Nawaz Sharif, he added, had been offered best health facilities and his surgery could easily be done in Pakistan by expert doctors available. He clarified that the authorities had also allowed Mr Sharif to call foreign physicians in Pakistan.

Mr Cheema suggested Shahbaz Sharif, “being a wealthy person”, to call physicians on his expenses for his brother without waiting for the government’s decision in this regards.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2019