Speculations rife regarding another 'London Plan'

LONDON: The recent London stay of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has sparked speculations regarding another “London Plan"– this time supposedly involving Sharif, the Chaudhries of Gujarat and Makhdoom Ahmad Mahmood.

However, all three sides have said that there has neither been any meeting between them nor any of them want to hold talks in London.

Sources close to Shehbaz expressed amusement at the news being aired in Pakistan on the PML-N president meeting Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who has been in London for about 10 days for his medical treatment, as well as Makhdoom Mahmood, who is also in London for his routine summer break in the British capital. Another news report that made rounds on the weekend claimed that Chaudhary Nisar had met Sharif in London and requested his support to run for the slot of Punjab chief minister.

A spokesman of PML-Q said that Chaudhry Shujaat has not been contacted by anyone for a meeting and he has no intention to do any politics while in London. Shujaat himself told this scribe that he had no plan of meeting anyone in London as “all action is taking place in Pakistan”.

Meanwhile, sources close to Shehbaz said that he’s in London "purely for his medical treatment" and all speculations about meetings were "nothing more than speculations".

Shehbaz had visited the Royal Free Hospital to meet doctors for a checkup around two weeks ago after he reached London for his first appointment with Dr Martyn Caplin, an expert on diagnosing stomach cancer.

He will undergo an ultrasound test this week on the recommendation of his doctors.

A source at the Royal Free Hospital confirmed that Shehbaz had his second check up with Dr Tim Briggs on April 18 at the London Clinic. “The doctor has recommended that Sharif undergoes an ultrasound test which has been scheduled for April 24,” said the hospital source.

Another source revealed that Shehbaz has several appointments scheduled with doctors till the first week of May. Due to Easter holidays, appointments are being given for the end of April and early May as thousands of professionals are on break and that’s the reason why Shehbaz is in London, the source said.

Shehbaz has been spending time with his grandchildren besides attending medical appointments.

A recent medical report of the former Punjab chief minister presented in court said that he has lymph node in his chest which could lead to recurrence of cancer.

The CT scan report of Sharif shows a number of problems and his medical fitness certificate suggests adding more doctors, including an oncologist and an orthopedic surgeon, to the medical board looking after him.

Shehbaz was diagnosed with a rare Adenocarcinoma cancer in the appendix during his exile when Pervez Musharraf was in power. He had received treatment in America and London. The PML-N president visits London twice a year for medical checkup and treatment.