PML-N tamps down chatter about Nawaz’s return

Khurram Dastagir says party supremo to return only after doctors declare him fit to travel

LAHORE:

PML-N leader Khurram Dastgir has tamped down the chatter about the party supremo Nawaz Sharif's prompt return to the country, saying that the latter is still supposed to undergo months-long medical treatment.

In a reference to PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq’s statement implying Sharif’s return, which triggered a round of speculation, Dastgir told The Express Tribune that the former speaker was only expressing his “desire”, and not announcing the imminent arrival of Nawaz.

He maintained that no decision has been made from either side about his return, adding that Nawaz Sharif would only return after his doctors declare him fit to travel back to Pakistan.

To a question regarding the party’s manoeuvres to build momentum prior to the anti-inflation march, he said that the PML-N, along with other PDM parties, would hold rallies throughout the province.

PML-N fanning the speculations?

Another senior party leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, revealed that the PML-N could lay the rumours to rest. However, he added, that the party was deliberately choosing to not do so in order to hoodwink the ruling party into exposing its own weaknesses.

“It is best to leave this rumour unattended and let the government make a fool of itself.”

He claimed that the “panic” in the ruling party triggered by the speculations was exposing the government’s “weakness” and, in the meanwhile, helping in emboldening the PML-N’s workers.

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However, the party leader did not rule out Nawaz’s return, saying the latter’s return depended on the circumstances. “The scenario may change in the coming weeks or months, requiring Mian Nawaz’s immediate return,” he added.

‘An attempt to gloss over real issues’

A day earlier, PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal, talking to The Express Tribune stated that Sharif was in London for treatment and would not return until his doctors allowed him to travel.

“This talk of his (Nawaz Sharif’s) return has no substance in it. They (PTI) have no information of his coming back,” Iqbal said.

The PML-N leader stressed that Sharif would return once healthy, adding that nothing regarding his arrival was in their knowledge.

Another senior party leader, considered close to the Sharif family, rubbished reports of the PML-N supremo’s homecoming soon.

“A party meeting will be called where a decision on Sharif’s return will be discussed at length. The party will have to figure out the post-arrest strategy as well.”

Noting that Sharif’s return would mean his “immediate imprisonment”, the party leader observed that all merits and demerits of his coming back will be deliberated upon.

“If Nawaz Sharif himself decides to return to Pakistan the party will start making arrangements for warm welcome weeks in advance,” he said.