KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has been admitted to hospital for a respiratory infection, his office said on Wednesday after media reported the ex-premier missed a court hearing in a defamation case he has lodged.
The 99-year-old Mahathir, who served as prime minister for more two decades, has a history of heart problems and has undergone bypass surgeries. He has been in and out of hospital in recent years, and was last hospitalized in July.
Mahathir had been due in court on Wednesday for a defamation case he had filed against the current deputy prime minister, but local media reported the hearing was postponed after his lawyer said he had been admitted to the National Heart Institute.
An aide of Mahathir told Reuters he was hospitalized on Tuesday evening for coughing due to a lower respiratory tract infection, and would be on medical leave until Oct. 25.
Mahathir served as prime minister for 22 years until 2003. He returned as premier in 2018 after leading the opposition coalition to a historic win, but his government collapsed in less than two years due to infighting.
Former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad hospitalized with respiratory infection
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Former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad hospitalized with respiratory infection
- The 99-year-old Mahathir has a history of heart problems and has undergone bypass surgeries
- He has been in and out of hospital in recent years, and was last hospitalized in July
Campaigning starts in CAR election
- Both of Touadera’s top critics on the ballot paper, ex-Prime Minister Henri-Marie Dondra and the main opposition leader Anicet-Georges Dologuele, had feared they would be barred from the election over nationality requirements
BANGUI: Campaigning has kicked off in the Central African Republic, with the unstable former French colony’s voters set to cast their ballots in a quadruple whammy of elections on Dec. 28.
Besides national, regional and municipal lawmakers, Centrafri-cains are set to pick their president, with incumbent Faustin-Archange Touadera in pole position out of a seven-strong field after modifying the constitution to allow him to seek a third term.
Thousands of supporters packed into a 20,000-seater stadium in the capital Bangui on Saturday to listen to Touadera, accused by the opposition of wishing to cling on as president-for-life in one of the world’s poorest countries.
In his speech, Touadera, who was first elected in 2016 in the middle of a bloody civil war, styled himself as a defender of the country’s young people and insisted there was work to do to curb ongoing unrest.
“The fight for peace and security is not over,” the president warned the packed stands.
“We must continue to strengthen our army in order to guarantee security throughout the national territory and preserve the unity of our country.”
Both of Touadera’s top critics on the ballot paper, ex-Prime Minister Henri-Marie Dondra and the main opposition leader Anicet-Georges Dologuele, had feared they would be barred from the election over nationality requirements.
Touring the capital’s districts alongside a traveling convoy, Dologuele warned that the upcoming vote represents “a choice for national survival; a choice between resignation and hope.”
“Our people have experienced 10 years of this regime. Ten years of waiting, promises and suffering,” he added.
