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Freeport negotiations revive political split
Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of US-based giant Freeport McMoRan Inc
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Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of US-based giant Freeport McMoRan Inc., must divest a further 10.64 percent of its shares to the Indonesian government by Oct. 14, giving the latter 20 percent ownership. (Antara) (Antara)
F
span class="inline inline-center">Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of US-based giant Freeport McMoRan Inc., must divest a further 10.64 percent of its shares to the Indonesian government by Oct. 14, giving the latter 20 percent ownership. (Antara)
Leaders of the Red-and-White Coalition (KMP) met at the house of Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto in Bogor, West Java on Friday evening to discuss the opposition group's stance on the dispute between Energy and Mining Resources Minister Sudirman Said and House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto connected with the negotiations over the extension of a contract with Freeport Indonesia.
Sudirman reported Setya to the House's ethics committee last week, claiming that the latter had misused the names of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla when he met with Freeport representatives. Setya was accused of demanding 20 percent of the company's shares for Jokowi and Kalla.
Gerindra Party deputy chairman Fadli Zon said on Saturday that the KMP supported Setya because Fadli claimed that the transcripts and recordings of the talks between Setya and Freeport's representatives, which Sudirman had conveyed to the House's ethics committee and which had been reported by a private television station, had already been edited.
'The recordings that have already been aired by a private television station had already been edited. They are part of a sting operation,' said Fradli in Jakarta on Saturday, adding that the recordings were just small parts of the discussions between Setya and Freeport's representatives, which took place on three occasions.
'Last night, the KMP stated that we supported the explanation by Setya,' Fadli said in Jakarta on Saturday as reported by tribunnews.com, adding that the KMP, however, respected the process used by the House's ethics committee to solve the problem.
Setya denied that he had misusing the names of both Jokowi and Kalla, saying that the meeting was part of his effort to find a solution for the contract extension.
The KMP meeting was attended by Parbowo, Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Soehibul Iman, a National Mandate Party (PAN) senior politician, Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marhan and Fadli. No participants of the meeting gave information about what they discussed.
The disclosure of parts of the meeting between Setya and Freeport's representatives, according to Fadli, was motivated by the wish of the President to facilitate an extension of the contract to manage the mining site in Papua that would expire in 2021, which according to the exiting regulations could only be discussed two years before its expiry date.
'It is blackmail so that the House of Representatives will easily approve the contract's extension,' Fadli added.
The KMP is a group of political parties that supported Prabowo in the presidential election. Now, the parties act as an opposition group in the House of Representatives, except for the National Mandate Party, which has expressed support for Jokowi's administration and would likely get ministerial posts in the next Cabinet reshuffle. (bbn)
