Anwar hopes Utusan survives but says govt has no role to save it

PKR President Anwar Ibrahim (photo, above) hopes Utusan Malaysia, the nation’s oldest Malay-language newspaper, will pull through its recent bout of financial troubles.

Nevertheless, he maintained that Putrajaya should not get involved in rescuing the private firm, which is now struggling to pay salaries and is on the brink of collapse.

“I think it is difficult (for the government to help) because this is not the government’s responsibility.

“It is a private company that has run into trouble,” he said when asked during a press conference in Cheras this evening.

Anwar said he appreciated the newspaper’s role in Malaya’s independence movement as well as the long list of notable Malay writers it brought to the fore.

However, he also noted how Utusan had since been used as a “political tool” against enemies of its former majority shareholder - Umno.

“I was one of its targets but that will not affect my position on this.

“I see Utusan from a wider perspective, from a historical and revolutionary perspective.

“[...] I hope it will be saved, it will be a sad shame if it dies,” he said, adding that paying staff salaries was the most urgent matter.

After being previously warned that the newspaper might cease printing tomorrow, Utusan staff were assured today that the company would carry on and charge higher prices for its printed publications.

Employees were also promised a maximum payment of RM2,000 per person by tonight.

Umno has since stepped in with a cash injection of RM1.6 million for the company.

Najib’s spin regrettable

As for former Umno president and premier Najib Abdul Razak’s (photo, above) move to blame Pakatan Harapan for freezing Umno’s assets and causing Utusan’s woes, Anwar called it “regrettable”.

“It is regrettable that Najib used this to [...] score a political point.

“It is actually an issue of managing [...] and you know Utusan has been bleeding for many years.

“And of course it has been exacerbated somewhat with the change of government because there is no longer that sort of protection,” he said.

Umno, which previously owned Utusan, sold its 31.61 percent stake to the party’s former Kulim-Bandar Baru MP Abd Aziz Sheikh Fadzir in Feb this year.

The stake was sold for RM6.65 million, a 65.2 percent premium.

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