–PPP chairman says govt will be responsible in case anything happens to former president
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday alleged that his father, former president Asif Ali Zardari, has not been given access to specialist doctors and his personal physician.
“Our family is increasingly concerned about his health. If anything happens to our father, this government will be held responsible,” he wrote on Twitter.
President Zardari has still not been given access to specialist doctors and personal physician. Our family is increasingly concerned about his health. If anything happens to our father this govt will be held responsible.
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) November 5, 2019
Zardari – who had complaints of backache, weakness and anxiety – was brought to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi on Oct 22 and admitted to the cardiology department’s VIP ward.
He underwent a number of tests and was declared to be out of danger. However, on Monday, a medical board at PIMS attached Zardari to a Holter monitor to check variations in his heartbeat.
“The device has been put on because of the continuous variation in the patient’s heartbeat,” PIMS media coordinator Dr Waseem Khawaja said. He added that the patient would stay at the hospital “until all his tests come back normal”.
A Holter monitor is a battery-operated portable device that measures and records the heart’s activity for 24 to 48 hours, or longer, depending on the type of monitoring used.
According to a heart specialist, the device has four or five electrodes that are attached to the chest. He said patients are put on the device when they complain of dizziness because this can occur due to a low heartbeat.
“Zardari is sick, as he is diabetic, has arthritis and has received stents,” he said, adding that he had all these medical issues when he was president as well.
PPP leader Rehman Malik, a day earlier, sought relief for Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur on the pattern of legal remedy provided to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam in Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Chaudhry Sugar Mills cases respectively.
“Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur are high-profile under-trial political personalities and they must not be treated like convicted prisoners,” he remarked.
Zardari was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on June 10 after the cancellation of his pre-arrest bail by the Islamabad High Court in the fake bank accounts case.
Prior to his arrest, additional prosecutor general of NAB Jahanzeb Bharwana had told the court that the anti-graft watchdog was investigating billions of rupees transactions through 28 bank accounts for which the investigation team required custody of the accused persons.
