LAHORE – Former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif has reportedly advised his party workers against staging a protest for him on March 23rd.
The supreme leader of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz on Friday urged the workers to celebrate Pakistan Day instead of protesting in his favor for not getting ‘desired’ medical treatment.
“PML-N is a responsible party and workers will follow party policy,” Nawaz was quoted as saying.
The PML-N workers had decided to stage a protest on March 23 outside the Kot Lakhpat jail – where Sharif is imprisoned – as a show of support to the politician.
“I respect the sentiments of my lovers. I appeal to all of you not to lose patience. I have no taint of corruption; therefore, I pose full trust in the law and justice system of my country,” he said in a statement.
The elder Sharif was sent to seven years behind bars in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference by the accountability court in Islamabad in December last year.
Nawaz Sharif was also convicted in the Avenfiled reference by the accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir, however, he was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court.
Sharif’s plea for bail on medical grounds in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference was turned down by the Islamabad High Court following which moved the Supreme Court and requested an early hearing of the case.
The three-time prime minister has been relocated between Kot Lakhpat Jail and hospital multiple times on the recommendation of the medical board.
The supreme court is set to take up his petition for bail on medical grounds on March 19th. A three-judge bench would hear the plea.
The crucial hearing comes amid repeated denials by the former premier to be shifted to any hospital for treatment of heart disease despite requests by the Punjab government and his family members.
