Mahathir stable after surgery

KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysia’s influential former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad was in stable condition Tuesday after his second heart bypass operation, his family said.
His daughter Marina Mahathir said that her 82-year-old father spent about five hours on the operating table, and the procedure went as planned. “We feel very relieved,” she told reporters. “There was no big drama. I would like to thank all those who prayed for my father’s recovery.”
Mahathir, who ruled Malaysia for more than two decades, was admitted to Kuala Lumpur’s National Heart Institute for elective surgery on Sunday after suffering two heart attacks in the past year. The hospital said in a statement that Mahathir had been transferred to the intensive care unit for observation, and would be kept sedated overnight.
“The next 48 hours is the crucial period in his post-operative care,” the statement said. Family members were to spend the night at the hospital. The former prime minister was last seen in public on Friday, waving the Malaysian flag as part of the country’s celebrations marking 50 years since independence from Britain.
Mahathir led Malaysia for 22 years before handing power to the current premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2003. Despite retiring from office, Mahathir remains an influential figure in Malaysian politics, and has become an outspoken critic of his successor, accusing him of nepotism and corruption.—Agencies