Some 1,500 workers from cigarette companies in Kudus, Central Java staged a protest Wednesday rejecting the new cigarette excise tax imposed by the government.
The demonstrators demanded Finance Minister Sri Mulyani resign for issuing the new policy.
"Finance Minister [Sri Mulyani] does not support small cigarette firms," Eny Mariyanti, one of the protesters, said.
Ahmad Guntur, chairman of the Indonesian Cigarette Industry Forum (Formasi), said small cigarette companies will see a 60 percent increase in their excise tax because of the new excise policy.
"It's too heavy for them," he said. "The price of cigarettes will rise significantly."
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