Former Italian president Giorgio
Napolitano, 96, had a successful operation on his abdomen at the
weekend, doctors at Rome's Spallanzani Hospital said.
The former Italian Communist Party (PCI) moderate and Left
Democrat interior minister served as the longest-lasting
president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, and he was the first
Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency, with
current head of State Sergio Mattarella the second.
Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics
sometimes referred to him as Re Giorgio ("King George").
Surgeon Giuseppe Maria Ettorre said the president emeritus "is
well and has got over the operation. His condition is compatible
with that of a patient of his age".
It is Napolitano's second operation since he left office at the
start of 2015, two years after being reluctantly persuaded to
stay on amid a government and sovereign-debt crisis.
He had a complex operation on his aorta after suffering a heart
attack in April 2018.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
