The top trends on Twitter right now are #NawazSharif, #BhaagNawazBhaag, #JiyeTouSadaNawazSharif, #airambulance and #London after former prime minister left Pakistan on an air ambulance for London Tuesday.
People on social media are sending Nawaz good wishes and a speedy recovery.
But others are questioning how ‘normal’ and ‘healthy’ he looks.
Many are upset with Imran Khan for ‘allowing’ Nawaz to leave.
Nawaz has promised to return in four weeks after he is treated for his illness.
Former prime minister (PM) and Pakistan Muslaim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif will leave for London today in an air ambulance, accompanied by his brother Shehbaz Sharif and his personal physician Doctor Adnan.
The air ambulance is equipped with an ICU and fully functional operation theater.
PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that the doctors conducted a thorough medical test in the morning.
“If Nawaz Sharif had left 15 days earlier, then his treatment would have already started by now,” Aurangzeb said, adding that âNawaz will have to be taken to US for treatment.”
She also said that we will consult the doctors in London and then take a decision,, adding that Nawaz was kept on high dose medicine for 15 days.
Aurangzeb further shared that in the absence of Nawaz and Shehbaz, party affairs will be handled by the senior leadership of the PML-N.
The administration of Allama Iqbal International Airport has completed the preparations after receiving a copy of the Lahore High Courtâs (LHC) verdict that allowed PML-N supremo to travel abroad. The Interior Ministry has also released a memorandum clearing Nawaz to fly out of the country.
According to the memorandum, in an interim agreement in light of the LHC verdict, Nawaz has been permitted to fly aboard on a ‘one-time permission’ for a period of four weeks on medical grounds.
Moreover, the memorandum includes affidavits submitted by Shehbaz and his elder brother to the LHC.
Lahore High Court (LHC) has allowed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad for four weeks for medical treatment, saying the duration could be extended based on medical reports.
As per reports, an air ambulance will arrive on Tuesday morning to transport Nawaz Sharif to London. Nawaz’s physician, Dr Adnan Khan took to social media to announce that the former premier was scheduled to travel to London within 48 hours once he’s clinically stabilized.
Air ambulance is an aircraft that is equipped to fly as an intensive care unit (ICU).
A medically staffed and equipped air ambulance provides medical care in flight while a non-medically equipped and staffed aircraft simply transports patients without a care in flight. All medical equipment and medications are selected to fit the needs of the patient that is being transported so it can differ from patient to patient.
Common equipment for air ambulances includes medications, ventilators, ECGs (a test that measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat) and monitoring units, CPR equipment ( a life-saving technique that is used when someone is suffering from any emergency issue such as cardiac arrest, heart attack or drowning), and stretchers.
The equipment in each air ambulance can include everything from breathing apparatus and monitoring systems, pacemakers and defibrillators (devices that restore a normal heartbeat by sending an electric pulse or shock to the heart) to blood transfusion equipment and a comprehensive supply of medication. The flight crew includes pilots and a medical team that will be able to meet patient needs.
Dr Adnan tweeted that Nawazâs ambulance would be equipped with a fully functional and staffed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as well as an operation theater. A team of doctors and paramedics headed by an Intensivist would also be there for Nawaz.
After the Lahore High Court granted permission to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to fly to London without any conditions for four weeks for medical treatment, former Pakistan cricket team captain Mohammad Hafeez took to Twitter to question whether this decision is admission that Pakistan lacks proper medical care.
“It means we 200 million Pakistani are not safe here? Just asking,” he wrote.
Following the cricketer’s tweets, people took to attack him and question why he also opted to get treatment in the UK when he hurt his thumb in the past.
Other’s dug up an old video of his in which he is seen wishing Nawaz Sharif good health.
Meanwhile, others took to defend the cricketer and his decision to get treated in the UK.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that he holds no grudge against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and that the ailing former premierâs health is more important than politics.
According to The Express Tribune, presiding over a meeting of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) core committee on Friday, PM Imran said his government had facilitated the Sharif family patriarch at every forum on humanitarian grounds and had also come up with a legal option to strike his name off the Exit Control List (ECL).
The statement came a day after PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif warned that he would hold Imran responsible if anything happened to his brother as his administration was âdilly-dallying on the removal of Nawazâs name from the no-fly listâ.
The premier has now said the government had no issues if the Sharif family opted to approach the court instead of furnishing an indemnity bond for the removal of Nawazâs name from the ECL. However, he regretted that the Sharif family was âplaying politicsâ on the 69-year-old politicianâs health.
He noted that Nawazâs health was deteriorating and his familyâs first priority should be to take him abroad for treatment instead of wrangling over the issue of the indemnity bond.
Participants of the PTIâs core committee meeting also decided to take legal action against Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for criticising state institutions during his 14-day-long sit-in in the federal capital.
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Speaker Punjab Assembly, and ally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insafâs (PTI) government has said that the government should not talk about money if it is talking about humanity in the case of Nawaz Sharif.
Talking in Dunya News programâ Nuqta-e-Nazar,â Pervaiz Elahi said that all the properties of Nawaz have been transferred to his children and encouraged the government not to do politics on such sensitive matters and let former premier leave the country.
Elahi said that Sharif family is also questioning why they should give any guarantee, adding that âNawaz has been granted bail by the courts so why should he give guarantee to the government if he wants to leave for London?â
It is pertinent to note that the federal cabinet on Tuesday granted “conditionalâ approval to remove Nawazâs name from the ECL [Exit Control List].
The government has asked the Sharif Family to pay Rs7 billion as surety bonds â equivalent to the fines imposed on him by an accountability court in two corruption cases Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Avenfield properties â in which PML-N supremo was convicted.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had categorically rejected the conditional offer of the government and have approached the court to seek the removal of former prime minister’s name from the no-fly list.
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The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday rubbished both the government and National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) concerns as it ruled that former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s plea seeking unconditional removal from the Exit Control List (ECL) was admissible.
According to Geo, The two-member bench — headed by Justice Ali Baqir Najafi and comprising Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem — resumed the hearing of the case, where the federal government and NAB submitted their replies.
During the hearing, the federal government urged the court to maintain its condition of seeking a security bond worth Rs7 billion from the former premier.
Appearing on behalf of the federal government, Additional Attorney General Ishtiaq A Khan objected to the maintainability of the petition and requested that the petition be dismissed for being ânon-maintainableâ.
He contended that Nawaz should approach the Islamabad High Court (IHC) instead for removal of his name from the ECL, as the federal government had placed his name on the list and the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the plea.
The government in its 45-page reply opposed the removal of Nawazâs name from ECL without a security bond.
It argued that the PML-N supremo was convicted, which is why he should not be allowed to leave the country without submitting a security bond.
In Friday’s hearing, NAB also submitted its four-page reply to the court. Following the submission of the response, the court took a recess for an hour to allow the petitioner’s counsel to read the responses.
Nawaz counsel Amjad Pervez stated that the LHC could hear the petition as the NAB was a federal institution. The counsel argued that the condition of furnishing Rs7.5 billion surety bonds was not based on any provision of law.
He added the governmentâs condition carried no legal standing as the petitioner had been granted bail in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case by the LHC and his sentence in Al-Azizia reference had been suspended by the IHC.
He contended that Nawazâs name was placed on the ECL in the wake of pending cases against him. Pervez pointed out that the former prime minister had sent an application to the interior ministry for removal of his name from the ECL but the federal government issued the impugned order on Nov 13, allowing Nawaz to proceed abroad for treatment only after furnishing indemnity bond.
He further said that Nawaz had the fundamental rights under Article 4 & 15 of the constitution to move freely.
The court then asked the attorney general to tell whether the fine imposed by the government was part of the accountability court verdict.
Responding to the query, the additional attorney general said the federal government had sought surety bond equivalent to the fine imposed by the Islamabad accountability court on Nawaz.
Nawazâs counsel also admitted that the amount of indemnity bond sought by the government was equivalent to the fine imposed on the petitioner in Al-Azizia reference by an accountability court.
The law officer added that the PML-N leaderâs sentence was only suspended in Al-Azizia reference and not set aside. The bench observed that the IHC apparently suspended the sentence of the petitioner and not the fine. Justifying the governmentâs move to seek surety bond, he argued that if a person allowed to travel abroad did not come back, the federal government would be held responsible, as had happened in Pervez Musharraf case.
âDoes the ECL ordinance give the Centre authority to give permission for a one-time visit abroad?â asked the court.
To this Pervez said the impugned order of November 13 was not based on any provisions of Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance 1981 and Exit from Pakistan (Control) Rules 2010, empowering the federal government to impose extra conditions for his one-time permission to travel abroad especially after he had been granted bail by two different high courts.
He added Nawaz was seriously ill and the medical board had suggested his treatment abroad. The counsel said the courts were there to take action if the petitioner violated their orders of bail and suspension. The government has no role in the whole matter, he added.
The law officer sought time to verify when asked whether the impugned order of the government for the indemnity bond was a result of any consensus or whether the petitioner had been placed on the ECL on the recommendation of Lahore or Islamabad office of the NAB.
The law officer also sought time to file para-wise comments to the petition, which the bench duly allowed. The bench also asked the law officer to assist it on a legal point as to whether the government had the power to put any condition for removing the name from the ECL if there was an order by the court.
The case was adjourned till Monday as the court decided that the plea was admissible.
Leaders of the ruling Pakistan Terhreek-e-Insafâs (PTI) major coalition partner, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), have advised Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to withdraw the âunjustifiedâ condition set for ex-PM Nawaz Sharif’s foreign travel.
The development comes at a time when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has already taken the government to the Lahore High Court (LHC) over its demand for an indemnity bond worth Rs7 billion, which it called âunconstitutionalâ and a âransomâ.
PML-Q is the major ally of the PTI government in both Punjab and the Centre and the Chaudhry brothers, Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi, have urged PM Imran not to listen to those were creating hurdles in the departure of Nawaz Sharif.
Shujaat said, âPM Imran has to overcome the storm which has started over Nawaz Sharifâs departure,â referring to a barrage of statements coming out in the favour of Nawaz after the government placed its condition for the permission to fly overseas.
The PML-Q president urged PM to focus on important issues, such as rising inflation and unemployment, adding that âPeople in power should only spend their energy on ending inflation and unemployment,â PML-Q added.
Similarly, speaker Pervaiz Elahi has also urged the federal government to withdraw its demand of the surety bond, saying that if something happened to Nawaz, the issue would haunt the incumbent PM for the rest of his life.
While the PTI government is facing immense pressure to not let former premier to go abroad without a financial guarantee, it seems a rift has appeared between two allies over Nawaz’s health issue.