LAHORE – A recent survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan revealed that a shockingly high number of people felt the Prime Minister had lied about undergoing open-heart surgery in London two months ago to escape the heat generated from his family members’ inclusion in the Panama Papers for alleged money-laundering and tax evasion.
According to reports, Gallup Pakistan arranged a survey and asked people from different cities whether they believed the PM was seriously ill or whether they felt he had used the surgery as an excuse to fend off the criticism coming his way as a result of the Panama leaks.
A majority of the respondents (59 %) said that PM Nawaz was seriously ill and had not lied about undergoing surgery.
But, surprisingly as much as 38 percent of the Pakistanis interviewed felt that Nawaz Sharif had lied about his health to avoid the pressure mounted on him by political rivals in the aftermath of the Panama Leaks.
Three percent of the respondents did not reply to the question or said they did not know about it.
The survey was carried out in June among a sample of 1252 men and women in rural and urban areas from all four provinces of the country.
PM Nawaz reportedly underwent open-heart surgery in London and after spending 48 days there, arrived back in Pakistan on July 9. His supporters claim that he was seriously ill and had to move to London for this reason. However, his political rivals have accused him using the surgery as an excuse to pull through a politically precarious time for his government.
