Hamza says he and the family are worried about Nawaz's illness

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz has said that the reports in media about former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s deteriorating health were worrisome and demanded that the family and nation be told truth about his health, ARY News reported on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference here, Shehbaz said that the deposed former premier was suffering from various ailments and the government should realise that nothing is beyond health.

Talking about the ongoing debate about new provinces in Punjab, he said that the government had promised so much for the creation of ‘south-Punjab’ province prior to elections, however, the government should also take into account the longstanding demand of a ‘Bahawalpur province’.

He said that the PML-N was ready to support the federal government unconditionally if it wanted to create new provinces, suggesting that the people of Bahawalpur should also be asked about their wishes through a referendum.

“The PML-N has tabled the resolution for creation of new provinces in the national assembly, and we have assured of ‘unconditional support’ to the government on this issue”, he said.

He said that the former Punjab government had allocated Rs. 600bn for development, but the new government hadn’t used any of it so far.

“We raised south Punjab’s budget from previous 16 per cent to 22 per cent and the region alone had an allocation of Rs. 228bn”, he claimed.

“Today, entire Punjab’s budget is only Rs. 222bn”, he said.