News
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Rumour mills in top gear as Zardari hospitalised* President admitted in Dubai hospital after ‘minor’ heart attack
* Personal physician says he is stable
* Speculations rife Zardari under pressure to quit Presidency
ISLAMABAD: While the country was abuzz with the reports and rumours over President Asif Ali Zardari’s health on Wednesday, his party and the government were busy clearing the mist, created about his deteriorating health.
President Zardari had suffered a minor heart attack on Tuesday and was flown to Dubai where he had an angioplasty. He will remain in hospital until further notice, officials said Wednesday. A statement by president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that the president was undergoing medical tests and checkups in a Dubai hospital. Notwithstanding the official version of the illness, rumour mill got down to churning out stories about the political fate of the president.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s House over his health, following a meeting between the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto and the Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, could not put an end to the speculations, including one that the president had been under tremendous pressure to quit the Presidency. According to Zardari’s physician, Col Salman, the president was in a stable condition. “Routine evaluation of the president’s condition is being carried out. Investigations carried out so far are essentially within normal range and the president’s condition is stable,” Col Salman said.
The illness sparked media reports that the president is contemplating resignation, but loyalists have ruled out any question that he may step down. “He had a minor heart attack on Tuesday. He flew to Dubai where he had an angioplasty. He’s in good health now,” Mustafa Khokhar, adviser to the prime minister on human rights who sits in the cabinet, told AFP. “There’s no question of any resignation,” he added.
The prime minister office said the president was “stable” but would remain under observation as doctors examine the cause of his illness. A statement gave no timeframe for the treatment and made no mention of a heart attack, saying only that he went to Dubai following symptoms related to a “pre-existing heart condition” at the “insistence” of his three children.
The PPP spokesman Qamar Zaman Kaira told AFP that President Zardari has undergone different tests. “All the tests conducted so far are normal and he (Zardari) is stable.” Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum, visited Zardari and wished him a “speedy recovery,” the official WAM news agency reported.
Zardari is out of the country at a time when Pakistan is battling a major crisis in US relations after NATO air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26. In his absence, his powers are transferred to the chairman of the Senate, Farooq Naek. “President Zardari’s condition is now stable. He was taken to ICU because he was getting a lot of visitors,” Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain told Geo TV. staff report/agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk