Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa said Umno had tried to help the struggling newspapers a few times, and the move to go into voluntary liquidation was a business decision.

"The party does not need to interfere [...] their board of directors is free to make their decision," he told journalists in Parliament.

He added Umno could not do much as it was now a minor shareholder of Utusan after selling off most of its stake to its former Kulim Bandar Baru MP Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir.