The weekend Sunday newspaper 'The Nation' will be closed 'on a temporary basis' from this week, with tentative plans for a relaunch, its News Editor told Asian Mirror.

Although their were frequent rumors circulating on the imminent closure of 'The Nation' for a while, this decision took many by surprise. Malinda Seneviratne resigned as Editor-in-Chief and the staff was asked to take leave until November 2 by the management.

However, Asian Mirror learns that Seneviratne had offered to resign in July due to internal power-politics. The management had not responded to his resignation, until informing him yesterday that it has been accepted.

Although the management has conveyed tentative plans for a relaunch, he was not informed of any further details, the News Editor of 'The Nation' told Asian Mirror. As of now, the intention is to time the relaunch, if at all, for the festival season.

The staff of the newspaper has been asked to take 'a rest' from today and 'come back to office' on November 2 with 'a fresh mind'.

'The Nation' was launched on May 21, 2006, along with a Sinhala newspaper 'Rivira' by the Rivira Media Corporation.