The Nationalist Party has strongly criticised surgeon Anthony Zammit for a speech he gave at the Labour Party conference yesterday evening.

In a short address, Mr Zammit, an MLP candidate who operated on Dr Sant last month, said that Dr Sant had emerged victorious from the operation and would emerge victorious from the election. He said the fact that Dr Sant was operated on in Malta reflected his confidence in the Maltese medical profession, in contrast to others who had opted to be operated in the United States.

The PN said the surgeon was trying to gain political advantage from an operation he himself had performed on Dr Sant, thus mixing his medical profession with politics. Such extremes were never reached, even at the height of the Labour government’s dispute with the doctors.

The PN said it was ‘obscene’ that Mr Zammit had criticised Eddie Fenech Adami’s operation at the Mayo Clinic in the United States when he was Prime Minister.

Dr Fenech Adami had gone to the Mayo Clinic on advice from his doctors, including Dr Mario Vassallo, ,the same specialist who was consulted for Dr Sant’s treatment. Dr Fenech Adami had to go to the United States because no conclusions could be drawn from the diagnosis in Malta, the PN said.

Furthermore, at the Mayo Clinic, Dr Fenech Adami was seen by another Maltese, Prof Michael Camilleri, who recommended the intervention which was then successfully performed. Dr Fenech Adami also underwent other medical interventions in Malta.