PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang's health has improved after the critical 24-hour period following a heart valve replacement surgery at the National Heart Institute (IJN) yesterday.

His Political Secretary, Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mohktar said Abdul Hadi told him last night to convey his regards to everyone who had prayed for his health.

"This morning...he had started to take soft food," he said in a statement today.

READ: Hadi Awang undergoes heart surgery at IJN

Currently, visits are restricted to close family members only.

The IJN, in a statement yesterday, said the three-hour operation began after finding that Abdul Hadi was showing increasing symptoms due to a leaking heart valve that had affected his daily activities.

-- BERNAMA