PM Imran orders Punjab govt to keep Maryam with ailing father

0
285

–Punjab governor says govt will fulfill legal requirements to shift Maryam to Services hospital

–PML-N VP was shifted back to Kot Lakhpat jail on Thursday morning

 

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar on Thursday announced that Prime Minister Imran has issued directives to keep Maryam Nawaz with her father in the same hospital, hours after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) shifted her back to Kot Lakhpat jail from Services Hospital.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who is a nominee in the ongoing Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) reference, was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday night after a meeting with her ailing father.

Following the meeting, Maryam suffered an anxiety attack and she was admitted to the VVIP II room, next to her father’s room in the hospital. According to a document issued by the hospital’s accident and emergency services, she was admitted at 10:03pm in VVIP II.

The decision to move Maryam back to jail was met with criticism from the party’s upper echelons.

PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb condemned the move, saying that Maryam was sent back to the jail early on Thursday even though she was unwell at the time.

Maryam, whose initial plea seeking permission to meet her father was turned down by Lahore High Court (LHC), met former prime minister Nawaz Sharif at the same hospital after the Punjab government accepted her request. Nawaz was admitted to the hospital late on Monday night after his personal physician, Dr Adnan Khan, had raised an alarm about his critical condition in the accountability watchdog’s custody.

Reportedly, she was out on parole for 24 hours.

Aurangzeb said that Maryam was suffering from high blood pressure and her heart rate was not normal at the time when she was shifted back to jail.

She said that doctors had decided to admit the PML-N vice president in the hospital after conducting tests, adding that Maryam has not been feeling well for a few days.

Later on Thursday, the Punjab governor said that Prime Minister Imran had sought a briefing on Maryam and Nawaz’s health. He issued directives to the government to fulfill legal requirements to shift Maryam to the Services Hospital with Nawaz.

Reports claimed that the prime minister also spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and directed him to make arrangements for Maryam’s stay with her father in Services Hospital.

Nawaz was shifted to Services Hospital from Kot Lakhpat Jail where he is serving an imprisonment sentence in the Al-Aziza Steel Mills reference. Doctors said that Nawaz’s platelet level had decreased dangerously.