Govt conditionally allows Nawaz Sharif to fly abroad

Islamabad: The federal cabinet’s subcommittee has finally decided to allow former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to go abroad for treatment for four weeks.

The announcement was made by Federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem who presided over the sub-committee meeting.

The government has set condition that Nawaz Sharif or his brother Shehbaz Sharif should deposit Rs7 billion as indemnity bond.

“This permission will be subject to Nawaz Sharif or Shehbaz Sharif submitting an indemnity bond to the tune of roughly Rs7billion to Rs7.5 billion, to the satisfaction of additional secretary to the Ministry of Interior,” he said.

The decision was announced by Law Minister Farogh Naseem at a press conference in Islamabad. Naseem heads the sub-committee of the federal cabinet which was looking at legal aspects of the ex-premier’s departure abroad.

Farogh Naseem said that Nawaz Sharif’s health condition is not satisfactory. He has already undergone heart surgery. Medical reports show that his platelets count is between 25,000 to 30,000, whereas according to doctors, Nawaz also had a stroke recently.

“Keeping in mind adverse critical medical condition, Nawaz Sharif will be given four-week long, one-time permission to travel abroad for medical treatment,” Farogh Naseem remarked.

The minister said Nawaz Sharif has been given one-time permission to travel abroad which means that his name is not being permanently removed from the Exit Control List (ECL).

“The names of convicted persons are not taken out from the ECL,” he said. “This is a one-time permission.”

Naseem said that anytime today (Wednesday) the interior ministry could grant permission to Nawaz to go abroad for medical treatment. He said that the decision had been taken keeping in mind Nawaz’s serious medical condition.

“It is the right of the government to ask for bail,” he said. “This is not being done for political reasons.”

“It must be kept in mind that this is a mega corruption case and Nawaz has been convicted in it,” he said. “There are other case whose investigations are being conducted. It is the responsibility of the government to make sure that Nawaz returns to the country.”

Ailing former premier Nawaz was granted interim bail on October 26 by the Islamabad High Court in the Al-Azizia corruption reference on medical grounds. The bail was approved after the National Accountability Bureau decided not to oppose it.

The former premier remained under treatment at Lahore’s Services Hospital for weeks after his health deteriorated during incarceration.

Last week, the PML-N filed a request to remove Nawaz’s name from the Exit Control List so that he could travel abroad and get treated. His medical reports were sent to doctors in London earlier and they advised the ex-premier to come to London for treatment as soon as possible.