ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is “criticallyunwell”, his doctor said Tuesday, days after the three-time leader nowserving a prison sentence for corruption suffered a minor heart attack.
Sharif is currently in hospital in the eastern city of Lahore afterreceiving “indefinite” bail on medical grounds in one of his graftconvictions, with an Islamabad court due to decide on another Tuesday.
His name remains on a stop list, meaning that he must remain in the countryfor the time being.
“Former PM #NawazSharif, critically unwell, is fighting the battle for hishealth & life,” his personal physician, Adnan Khan, tweeted Tuesday.
In addition to the minor heart attack, Sharif has a low platelet count,both of which are being further complicated by “deteriorating kidneyfunctions” Khan added.
He said poor blood sugar and blood pressure control was taking its toll,adding that “establishing a definitive diagnosis and subsequent managementposes considerable risk to #NawazSharif’s fragile and unstable health”.
The 69-year-old former premier, known as the “Lion of Punjab”, was firsttaken to hospital last week when his blood platelet count dropped todangerous levels.
Sharif, Pakistan’s longest serving prime minister, is a political survivorwho has repeatedly roared back to the country’s top office, underscoringthe unpredictable nature of Pakistani politics.
A hugely wealthy steel tycoon from Punjab, Pakistan’s wealthiest province,he was considered strong on the economy and infrastructure, but inheritedsagging finances and a stifling energy crisis when he was elected for thethird time in 2013.
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Seen as a pragmatist in the West, he raised eyebrows by calling for peacetalks with the Pakistani Taliban, blamed for killing thousands ofPakistanis since 2002.
He earned a reputation for combativeness during his two previous terms asprime minister, from 1990 to 1993 — when he was sacked, also on corruptioncharges — and from 1997 to 1999, when he was deposed by the powerfulmilitary.
He blames the security establishment for again targeting him in 2017, whenthe Supreme Court disqualified him from politics for life over graftallegations, which he denies.
He later received a seven-year jail sentence.
His brother Shehbaz Sharif, formerly the chief minister of Punjab, tookover the leadership of the family’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)party — but failed to make a dent against World Cup-winningcricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan in last year’s general election.
Khan has since launched a high-profile and controversial anti-corruptiondrive targeting several PML-N leaders. -APP/AFP
