Former Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici remains in hospital where he is being kept under observation after being admitted to the Intensive Therapy Unit following a planned operation on Wednesday.

A government spokesman said that Dr Mifsud Bonnici suffered from complications to a pre-existing condition but could not give more details.

The spokesman said that Dr Mifsud Bonnici was in a stable condition and was being kept in the hospital’s intensive therapy unit until further tests were carried out.

His condition is not life-threatening but given his age and pre-existing condition, doctors wanted to ensure all was fine before releasing him.

Yesterday, the spokesman said, Dr Mifsud Bonnici was conversing with people at the hospital.

It was Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who, on Friday, broke the news about Dr Mifsud Bonnici’s hospitalisation from Rome when, in a tweet, he wished him a speedy recovery.

“All the best to former PM and Labour leader Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, who has been hospitalised. I hope he will get well soon,” Dr Muscat said in the tweet.

A lawyer by profession, Dr Mifsud Bonnici, 80, succeeded the late Dom Mintoff as prime minister and Labour Party leader in 1984.

He served as prime minister until 1987 when the Nationalist Party won the election. He stayed on as Labour leader until his party’s 1992 defeat and was succeeded by Alfred Sant.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici remains renowned for his stand against Malta’s EU membership and still heads the Campaign for National Independence, which he founded.

PN, PL WISHES FOR SPEEDY RECOVERY

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil and the Labour Party today wished Dr Mifsud Bonnici a speedy recovery.