PML-N seeks extension of Nawaz Sharif's parole to allow him to attend ceremony for deceased wife Begum Kulsoom

Lahore: Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is making efforts to extend his parole, which will end on Monday, to allow him to mourn the death of his wife Begum Kulsoom till a ceremony that is held on the 40th day after the demise, according to a media report. [caption id=“attachment_4803261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Sharif. Twitter@MaryamNSharif[/caption] Kulsoom died last Tuesday in a London hospital after a year-long battle with throat cancer. She was laid to rest on Friday at the Sharif family’s Jati Umra residence next to the graves of her father-in-law Mian Sharif and brother-in-law Abbas Sharif. Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law M Safdar, are currently serving jail terms in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi after being convicted by an accountability court in a corruption case in July, have been released on parole for three-days for Kulsoom’s funeral. The Punjab home department extended the parole for additional five days. The Sharifs had been sent to the jail two months ago in the corruption case related to their purchase of properties in London. PML (N) president Shahbaz Sharif has been making efforts to get another extension in their parole till Begum Kulsoom’s chehlum (ceremony that is held on the 40th day after the demise), Dawn news quoted sources as saying. Asked about the party leadership’s efforts to seek extension in the parole of the three, former speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq told media that the Sharif family could announce a decision on the matter. “Earlier, Nawaz Sharif had not sought parole. I hope the government itself will extend their parole on humanitarian grounds,” he added.