National Union of Journalists (NUJ) chief Hata Wahari is waiting for the green light from the Home Ministry to set up a newspaper of his own, having named it Utusan Rakyat .

It is understood that several others, including those from NGOs and political parties, would be involved in the publication, with former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenivasan and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar among those in its advisory board.

NONE Earlier today, Nurul Izzah ( right ) submitted a formal application to the Home Ministry in Putrajaya for a permit for the intended weekly newspaper.

She explained that Hata, who has 16 years of experience in the journalism, has agreed to become the editor-in-chief of Utusan Rakyat .

                

Utusan Rakyat would be published in Bahasa Malaysia and circulated in Kuala Lumpur, Negri Sembilan and Perak.

“ Utusan Rakyat will be providing reports on various content, including issues relating to politics,”

Nurul Izzah added.

She said she was taking the initiative to apply for a permit, but did  not want to be involved directly in the newspaper.                

There were many other parties willing to lend a hand in making the publication a success, she said, but declined to name them.

‘Application to take two two months’

She said it would take about two months for the ministry to decide on the application as a panel of 10 people led by its deputy secretary-general (security department), Abdul Rahim Radzi, would discuss the application before forwarding it to Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein for approval.

She also said Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had been invited to be a member of the board of directors of Utusan Rakyat , but they have yet to receive a reply from him.

NONE Hata ( right ), a senior Utusan Malaysia journalist, faces eight counts of misconduct by his employers for issuing statements to news websites Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider and Merdeka Review , and TheSun newspaper, between Sept 21 and Oct 14 last year.

Following his election as NUJ president last September, he was suspended for criticising the company’s coverage of news as slanted and propagating the Umno agenda.

He blamed its editorial policy for the declining circulation of Utusan Malaysia , which is owned by Umno, the party that dominates BN.

Hata is not the first Utusan journalist affiliated with the NUJ who has been dragged through a domestic inquiry and sacked by the Malay language newspaper.

If given the boot, Hata would be the third Utusan employee to be dismissed for participation in union activities.

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