But Nurul Izzah and Hata Wahari insist on keeping the name for their proposed weekly.
Lembah Pantai MP and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, one of the advisors for the paper, and Hata Wahari, who is slated to be its editor-in-chief, said they explained Utusan Rakyat’s objective at a meeting with a ministry official today.
“The officer, Abdul Aziz, asked us to drop the name,” Hata told a press conference. “However, we told him that it is a pro-rakyat weekly and that is why we named it such.”
Hata, recently dismissed from his job as senior journalist for the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia, is the president of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He said the ministry’s Publications Control and Quranic Text Division had earlier informed him and Nurul that the name Utusan Rakyat might “confuse the people”.
Nurul had applied for a newspaper permit in March.
She said Utusan Rakyat would take a neutral stand in reporting on current national affairs.
“It will be an ethical newspaper,” said Hata. “That is why we will have an advisory board that will ensure that we will remain pro-rakyat at all times.”
Both said they would not abide by the ministry’s advice to change the name. “There is no meaning to it if you take the soul away from it,” Hata said.
The name was not exclusive to anyone, Nurul noted. “The ministry said it may confuse the people. Please have some respect for our readers.”
She said the paper’s staff were preparing a new mock-up because the ministry found the headline for the earlier mock-up, ‘Tumbangkan Pemerintahan Taib Mahmud’ (Oust Taib Mahmud’s Administration), too extreme.
Hata also informed reporters that he remained NUJ chief despite having lost his job.
“My sacking has been taken to court, and I am informed that NUJ is deliberating on my status.”
However, he said would step down once Utusan Rakyat got its license to operate. “Unless, of course, the NUJ holds an extraordinary general meeting to remove me before then. But I hope they will not do that.”
Hata was dismissed last April 21 after a domestic inquiry by Utusan Malaysia found him guilty of issuing statements against the company. He was given 14 days to appeal.
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