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PM Nawaz undergoes successful open heart surgery in London

By Web Desk
May 31, 2016

LONDON: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif underwent open heart surgery in a London hospital on Tuesday, his second cardiac procedure in five years.

"Surgery successful by The Grace Of Almighty. The Prime Minister is off the pump now. Will be shifted to ICU in the next 60 mins or so," said his daughter Maryam Nawaz

Sharif´s surgery comes as his government prepares to present its annual budget on Friday. It also remains under pressure over
allegations of corruption linked to the so-called Panama Papers.

Sharif "was in high spirits" when he went in to the operating theatre at about 8:00 a.m.(0700 GMT), his daughter, Maryam, said

The operation was for a "perforation of the heart", a complication from a 2011 procedure, Maryam said in a Twitter
post last week.

The prime minister has been accompanied to London by his brother, Shahbaz Sharif, who is chief minister of Punjab province, and several other family members and aides.

He has travelled to London for medical treatment several times over the past year. Sharif has been overseeing state affairs in the days leading up to the surgery, and on Monday addressed an economic meeting, signing off on budget proposals that include a target of 5.7 percent growth in the year beginning in July.

Pakistan missed its gross domestic product growth target of 5.5 percent for the year ending in June, hitting only 4.7
percent.

Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said on Tuesday that doctors were satisfied with the results of the surgery. Rasheed also said that the prayers of the nation had been answered as Nawaz Sharif's surgery had been successful. 

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that PM Nawaz would become healthy again and continue to lead the road to development for Pakistan.