Islamabad: Pakistan’s prime minister has arrived in London for medical treatment over a previously unknown chronic heart condition.
Before departing, Sharif held a meeting with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali and Punjab Chief Minister — and his brother — Shahbaz Sharif as well as other senior aides at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal Airport.
Sharif discussed with the aides the implications of the Panama Papers scandal and the current political situation in the country, Dawn online quoted sources as saying.
“It’s just a personal visit and Sharif will not hold political meetings during his stay in London,” said Asif Kirmani, the prime minister’s political secretary.
Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz, who is tipped to take over the reins of the party in the future, posted a photo of the prime minister before leaving the country.
“Nawaz will spend one week in London and would also visit doctors for medical treatment,” added Kirmani.
Meanwhile, President Mamnoon Hussain has left for Istanbul on a three-day visit to attend an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation conference.
Nawaz Sharif has been under tremendous pressure from opposition parties to step down since his family members were named in the mass leak of offshore account data from the Panama firm Mossack Fonseca.
His son Hussain Nawaz has owned offshore companies and one of the most expansive Mayfair London properties.
Pakistan’s interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, on Wednesday sought to assure the public that Sharif will return in a few days.
Khan disclosed for the first time that Sharif had heart surgery some years ago that went “terribly wrong.”
In a televised address to the nation last week, Sharif insisted that all of his family businesses were legal.
