Umno's organ, Wawasan Merdeka , has temporarily ceased publication pending the party's negotiation with several interested groups to take over the tabloid.

Sources told malaysiakini that the tabloid will be published under a different name, and will no longer be a party organ.

Its contents will be geared more toward current issues in order to compete with other political tabloids in the market now.

It is the current trend among political parties to revamp their party organs into tabloids containing more current issues rather than confining them to party matters. Keadilan recently revamped its Berita Keadilan into a weekly political tabloid.

The final issue of Wawasan Merdeka was published on Aug 20 this year before the tabloid's management was instructed by Umno to temporarily suspend its publication.

Sources said the decision was made by the Umno Management Committee chaired by deputy Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Possible publisher

Several publishing groups have indicated their interest in running the tabloid. One of them is Media Centre which handles a lot of Umno's publishing needs.

Wawasan Merdeka was first published in May last year under the editorship of Hambali Latiff, the former editor of the now defunct daily Watan . Though Hambali refused to comment on the latest development when contacted, he nevertheless confirmed his resignation.

The tabloid was printing 35,000 copies per issue fortnightly and selling at RM1 per copy. However, shortly before its suspension, it was published once a month.