LONDON: Pakistan Mus­­­lim League-Nawaz sup­­remo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, the party’s newly-appointed senior vice president, left London for a week-long trip to Geneva where the senior Sharif will undergo medical check-ups.

Their visit coincides with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s attendance at the UN-led donors conference, where the premier will appeal to the international community for assistance for post-flood rehabilitation.

The Sharif brothers and Ms Nawaz are expected to meet on the sidelines of the summit, which is a one-day event on Jan 9.

Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to meet doctors and spend the weekend in Switzerland, after which he will meet his younger brother next week.

The upcoming meeting of the Sharifs will take place as the incumbent government is faced with serious challenges, pertaining to the dire economic situation and flood disaster.

They are likely to discuss these issues as well as the political challenges confro­nting the party as the popularity of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan presents serious challenges for PML-N if and when elections take place.

As speculations about an interim government or technocrat set-up grow, pressure is increasing on the incumbent government to go for polls.

The party awaits the return of both the senior Sharif and Maryam Nawaz to counter the pro-Imran sentiment in the country and has said the senior Sharif will return once doctors give him a clean bill of health.

Maryam’s presence at the meeting as the party’s senior vice president is key, as discussions about the party’s future course of action are expected to take place.

In the past, former prime minister Nawaz has consul­ted with a leading Gen­eva-based cardiac specialist, Dr Ulrich Sigwart, who is kno­wn for his pioneering work in vascu-lar stents and their clinical use.

Dr Sigwart has been consulted by the Sharif family for several years, as he was also the cardiologist of Mian Sharif (Nawaz’s father). He has also visited Avenfield Hou­­se to see Nawaz Sharif in 2019, before the pandemic.

The PML-N leaders’ Geneva trip comes just over a month after members of the Sharif family went on a multi-city Euro trip for a family holiday at the end of November.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2023