Shehbaz calls important PML-N meeting tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shehbaz Sharif called an important meeting of the party's senior leaders on Thursday, as the government said that it would allow the former prime minister to go abroad for medical treatment  for four weeks. 

According to details, Shehbaz will hold an important news conference after the meeting. 

READ MORE: Govt seeks Rs7bn surety bond to allow Nawaz to travel abroad

"Keeping in mind his adverse critical medical condition, Nawaz Sharif will be given four-week long, one-time permission to travel abroad for medical treatment," Law Minister Farogh Naseem had said earlier. 

"This permission will be subject to Nawaz Sharif or Shehbaz Sharif submitting an indemnity bond to the tune of roughly Rs7-7.5 billion to the satisfaction of additional secretary to the Ministry of Interior."

Prime Minister Imran Khan's special assistant on accountability, Shahzad Akbar, added that requests from the Sharif Medical City, as well as the government-formed medical board, were taken into consideration.

"Nawaz has been given this one-time permission only for medical treatment," Akbar said. "It is the federal government's responsibility to ensure a guarantee from him and that that bond was only over surety, not any political gain."

The special assistant said the government understood Nawaz was unwell but stressed that the former premier was required to return to Pakistan after his medical treatment was completed. "The Ministry of Interior will issue the letter of permission," he said.