Maryam Nawaz leaves for Switzerland on 'medical and recreational' trip

Lahore: Pakistan's Punjab province chief minister Maryam Nawaz Thursday left for Switzerland on a "medical and recreational" trip on a chartered plane.

Although the Punjab government is keeping Maryam's tour a low profile because of backlash from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for using a chartered plane and finding no health facility in Pakistan for treatment, Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb confirmed that the chief minister left for Geneva, Switzerland, to undergo a medical check-up for a thyroid gland.

However, a senior Punjab government officer told PTI that Maryam left for Switzerland in the early hours of Thursday on a chartered plane, where she will be united with other family members. Her father - Nawaz Sharif and two brothers Hasan and Hussain - have already reached Geneva from London.

He said during the trip, the Sharif family will spend time together at some resort in Switzerland and Maryam may also undergo some medical check-ups. The Sharif family may go to London from there before returning to Pakistan in mid of this month.

Early this week, Maryam was hospitalised at the Sharif Medical Complex Lahore due to a gland issue. She reportedly had undergone gland surgery last year.

The Sharif family is often criticised for preferring Europe and the US for medical treatment for them. The opposition claims that the Sharif family has governments both in the Centre and Punjab, but it failed to build one state-of-the-art medical facility where its family members could go for treatment.