Observer Report
Islamabad
The federal government has sent a letter to the UK authorities asking them to deport former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan, confirmed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, a few days after the Punjab government decided to cancel his bail.
Briefing the media about the cabinet meeting held earlier, Dr Firdous said “The letter to bring a foreigner back home has been sent”, referring to Nawaz who was allowed by the Islamabad High Court to go abroad for medical treatment last year.
Dr Firdous said that based on Shahbaz Sharif’s reaction, it seemed that the letter written by the foreign ministry had arrived in the UK.
She said that sending the letter to the UK authorities was necessary to fulfill legal requirements.
A couple of days ago, Dr Firdous had said that the government had decided to write to UK authorities to deport the former prime minister. She had accused the PML-N of not providing the Punjab government with updated medical reports of the PML-N chief. “Nawaz Sharif did not provide his medical reports to the Punjab government and time has now come that he should be brought back,” she had said during an event in Sialkot.
Dr Firdous also blamed a section of the media for creating an environment and portraying as if the former prime minister’s health was in danger if he was not allowed to leave the country.
The PML-N, on the other hand, has maintained that Nawaz’s medical reports had been sent to the Punjab government. The party accused the government of resorting to political revenge.
