Mahathir discharged from heart institute after check-up

PETALING JAYA • Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 96, was discharged from the National Heart Institute (IJN) yesterday.

The IJN said in a statement that the Langkawi MP, who was discharged from the hospital at about 11.30am, underwent a series of medical investigations before he was ready to be discharged.

"Tun Dr Mahathir and (his wife) Tun Dr Siti Hasmah express their thanks to everyone for their concern and prayers over the last one week when Dr Mahathir was admitted to IJN," it said.

The nonagenarian - once the world's oldest prime minister - was admitted to IJN in Kuala Lumpur at 7pm last Thursday for a "full medical check-up".

The veteran statesman has a history of heart ailments, having had two heart bypass operations, in 1989 and 2007. He was last hospitalised in February 2018.

Dr Mahathir served nearly 24 years in total as Malaysia's prime minister over two separate terms, leading the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan (PH) administrations.

He last served as premier from 2018 to early 2020, when the PH government he was leading collapsed due to his resignation and mass defections from his former Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.

While in hospital, Dr Mahathir on Tuesday called for an end to partisan politics to focus on helping the tens of thousands across the country displaced by recent floods.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK