The government has lifted the suspension order on The Heat, which had followed an article on excessive spending by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife.

It is learnt that the weekly received a letter from the ministry this evening informing it that the suspension has been rescinded.

Prior to being suspended, the weekly had been slapped with two show-cause letters. The suspension order was issued on Dec 14.

The Home Ministry then clarified that the suspension was temporary and related to the weekly not informing the ministry of changes in its ownership and refusal to respond to two show-cause letters.

The suspension prompted journalists from various news organisations to stage a protest, while the Najib administration drew flak from various quarters.

According to its sister publication theantdaily, The Heat is now able to continue operations “without any change to its current publishing permit”.

The Heat editor-in-chief David Lee said news of the lifted suspension was conveyed to its publisher Satria Kiara Sdn Bhd in a letter.

The letter, dated Jan 24, was signed by Publications and Quranic Text Division head Hashimah Nik Jaafar, on behalf of the Home Ministry’s secretary-general.