Election campaign 2018: Nawaz decides to stay out

• Deposed PM says cannot participate in electioneering owing to deteriorating condition of Kulsoom Nawaz
• Maryam Nawaz says mother is still unconscious

LONDON: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif remarked on Sunday that he won’t be able to participate in the election campaign for the 2018 general election due to the health of his wife Kulsoom Nawaz.

While speaking to media in London, he shared that his wife is suffering from an infection, adding that she also has a fever due to the infection.

“Kulsoom Nawaz is my wife. I have certain responsibilities towards her.”

When asked about the Daily Mail report titled ‘Penthouse pirates: How the mega-rich former prime minister of Pakistan and his sons have ploughed millions into London’s swankiest addresses to amass a vast property empire’, Nawaz slammed as nothing but ‘propaganda’.

“Those who engage in propaganda would continue to do so,” he added.

Meanwhile, PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz said that doctors have not yet given a clear response regarding her mother’s health.

Speaking to media outside Harley Street Clinic in London, she said, “Doctors do not give clear answers when we ask them about my mother’s health,” adding, “She is still unconscious.”

The former first daughter said that when she called out her mother’s name, she nodded in response once. “I think my mother can hear us,” she added.

The PML-N leader also said that Kulsoom responds when the ventilator settings are altered.

Furthermore, Hussain Nawaz while speaking to media men outside the clinic said, “Doctors are doing their best to help my mother recover.”

“The rest is in God’s hands,” he added.

SHARIFS POSTPONE RETURN:

On the advice of the doctors, Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz have postponed their return to Pakistan early Sunday for the time being.

The decision was taken after a two-hour meeting between Nawaz, Maryam, Hussain and Kulsoom’s doctors at Harley Street Clinic. The doctors, however, have said that they cannot give a timeframe of the progress of Kulsoom’s health. The doctors advised Nawaz to spend more time with his wife, reports said.

On June 14, Begum Kulsoom was shifted to the hospital’s ICU after she suffered a cardiac arrest and has been on life support since. Nawaz and Maryam were granted a four-day exemption from appearing in personal capacity before the accountability court in corruption cases.

THROAT CANCER:

Begum Kulsoom underwent multiple surgeries in 2017 to remove diseased lymph nodes after she was diagnosed with throat cancer.

In April, her medical reports indicated that her health had worsened after her throat cancer began to spread to the rest of her body.

On May 25, her health was said to have improved briefly, before it deteriorated again on Wednesday.

On June 7, Nawaz and Maryam had sought a five-day exemption from their appearance before the accountability court in the corruption references against the Sharif family.