Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has entered a hospital for his second bypass operation after recently suffering two heart attacks, officials said yesterday.
Mahathir, 82, was admitted to the National Heart Institute hospital on Sunday, two days after watching a parade to mark the country's 50th anniversary of independence. He had suffered heart attacks in November last year and in May.
"Two weeks ago, he went in for some tests ... to determine the next course of action, after which this decision to redo the bypass was made," Mahathir's daughter, Marina, wrote on her Web journal yesterday. "He's tough, so God willing, all will be fine."
Yahya Awang, the surgeon who performed a bypass on Mahathir in 1989, was to head the surgery team, the hospital said.
The November heart attack forced Mahathir to greatly reduce his physical activities, and virtually halted his one-man campaign against his hand-picked successor, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Mahathir led Malaysia for 22 years until 2003, and stepped down after choosing Abdullah to replace him. But last year Mahathir began attacking Abdullah, accusing him of corruption, nepotism and mismanaging the economy. Abdullah has rejected the allegations.
Government officials would not immediately comment on Mahathir's hospitalization, but other political activists wished him well.
"The immediate thought I had when receiving the news was that at his age ... the risk of undergoing a heart bypass is higher than anyone of us who are much younger," said Jeff Ooi, a member of the opposition Democratic Action Party. "Mahathir is a tough and strong-willed person. I will pray for him."
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