File photo. Aamir Qureshi—AFP
PMLN leader accuses PTI-led government of deliberately denying medical care to former prime minister
Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif is “stable” and should recover in the next day or two following blood transfusions, said a leader of his political party on Tuesday.
Ahsan Iqbal told a press conference that Sharif had only been shifted to hospital after media reported on his deteriorating condition, adding that the government had been “deliberately denying him medical care and trying to harm his health” despite medical tests proving urgent care was required.
Iqbal, accompanied by the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)’s Marriyum Aurangzeb, said his party would hold Prime Minister Imran Khan directly responsible if Sharif’s condition worsened.
Sharif was shifted to Lahore Services Hospital on Monday, where blood tests found that his platelet count—usually between 150,000 and 450,000—was at a mere 10,000, suggesting an immunodeficiency that could prove fatal if the former prime minister contracted any illness. Current PMLN President Shahbaz Sharif told reporters after visiting Nawaz that his brother’s platelet count had dropped while he was in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau, who he accused of “gross negligence.”