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Joseph Sipalan

Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad is receiving hospital treatment for a cough, his aide has revealed, following a trip to London by the two-time prime minister.
Mahathir has been warded at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur since Monday and is expected to remain in hospital for a few days.
“He is being treated for cough but I am not able to go beyond that without official medical statement at the moment,” his aide told the media on Thursday in a WhatsApp message.
Mahathir was in London last week, where he had been invited as a keynote speaker at a conference with the city’s top Muslim leaders.
This is the second time that Mahathir, who turned 99 on July 10, has been admitted to hospital this year.
He was discharged from IJN in mid-March after being warded there for more than two months to treat an unspecified infection.

Mahathir has had a history of cardiac problems, having suffered three heart attacks before undergoing quadruple bypass surgery in 2007.
The former leader was the country’s longest-serving prime minister, holding the post for 22 years during his first stint in power from 1981 to 2003.
More than a decade later, he came out of political retirement to lead the opposition to an unprecedented victory in the 2018 national polls and returned to the premiership for a second 22-month term at the age of 93.
Mahathir is currently at the centre of a high-profile corruption crackdown launched by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, his former protégé-turned-nemesis, that has implicated his family and allies.
Anti-graft authorities said in April that Mahathir was being investigated, but declined to reveal the details of his alleged offences until their probe is completed.
The former leader has denied any wrongdoing, alleging that he is the target of political persecution by Anwar.


Critics have long accused Mahathir of corruption and abuses of power during his first 22-year term in high office.
More than 100 people were detained without trial under the colonial era Internal Security Act in 1987, when his administration launched the Ops Lalang crackdown on members of the opposition, civil society groups and journalists, ostensibly to prevent a rise in racial riots.
In 1998, he sacked Anwar as his deputy after a public dispute over how Malaysia should deal with the Asian Financial Crisis, which sent the country’s currency to its lowest ever levels against the US dollar.
Anwar was later jailed for corruption and sodomy – charges that he and his supporters have denied.
In his second term as prime minister, authorities arrested and indicted another Mahathir protégé and former prime minister, Najib Razak, over the multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Najib has been jailed since 2022 after failing to overturn his conviction for stealing 42 million ringgit (US$8.7 million) in funds from a former 1MDB unit.


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Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad in hospital for cough after London trip

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks during a news conference at his office in Putrajaya, Malaysia on January 22, 2024. Photo: AP 

Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad reads a newspaper as he is hospitalised for an infection at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur on February 20. Photo: Office of Mahathir Mohamad/Handout

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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, standing at center, takes his oath at the parliament in Kuala Lumpur on December 19, 2022. Photo: Prime Minister’s office via AP

A poster featuring Perikatan Nasional party leader Muhyiddin Yassin, right, and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) party leader Hadi Abdul Awang, near a polling station in August 2023. Photo: Bloomberg

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Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks during an interview in Putrajaya in 2022. Photo: Reuters

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Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad says in a statement he has never been investigated. Photo: AP 

Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad reads a newspaper as he is hospitalised for an infection at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on February 20. Photo: Office of Mahathir Mohamad/Handout via Reuters

Former finance minister Daim Zainuddin (centre) arrives at a court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on January 29. Photo: EPA-EFE

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It is the second time the 99-year-old former prime minister has been hospitalised this year


It is the second time the 99-year-old former prime minister has been hospitalised this year.
