KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party lea­der Asif Ali Zardari on Friday arrived in Karachi from Rawalpindi along with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in the latter’s official plane after the former president won bail from the Islamabad High Court.

Mr Zardari was also accompanied by his children Bilawal and Aseefa.

He was granted bail on medical grounds by the IHC. He was expected to head straight to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases or Ziauddin Hospital after reaching Karachi.

However, PPP leaders and Sindh government officials said he was initially brought to his Bilawal House residence where his doctors carried out preliminary examinations.

The decision to get Mr Zardari admitted to either of the two hospitals would be made on Saturday (today) morning, the officials said. Witnesses at the airport said Mr Zardari was in a wheelchair when he emerged from the plane and he was helped by his children and PPP leaders to board a car waiting outside.

The former president was discharged from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad a day earlier and then shifted to Zardari House where he spent a night. He is suffering from ischemic heart disease, a condition when the heart is not getting enough blood and oxygen, among other medical problems.

According to a Sindh government spokesperson, the chief minister is authorised to allow any person to travel along with him on his official plane and Mr Zardari is a PPP leader and an elected member of the National Assembly.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2019