(Reuters) – Indonesia’s next president is unlikely to make major changes to the country’s controversial mining rules, after major political parties backed an export ban that has led miners to halt $6 billion in annual mineral exports.
The broad political support will disappoint miners, like Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Newmont Mining Corp , that may have been hoping the tough new rules were only temporary measures imposed by a lame duck administration.
Political parties representing presidential front runners for the July election told Reuters they support the current government’s moves to ban mineral exports and tax concentrate shipments, aimed at forcing miners to build smelters in Indonesia.
Freeport has cut copper output by 60 percent due to a prolonged dispute over the export tax imposed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is barred from running for a third term.
Opinion polls show Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) as the most popular presidential pick. If he decides to run, his main competition will likely be ex-general Prabowo Subianto of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and wealthy businessman Aburizal Bakrie of the Golkar Party.
“Golkar will not alter (the export ban policy), instead we will underline the importance of value-added (commodities),” Harry Azhar Azis, a senior member of the Golkar Party’s economic team, told Reuters.
Gerindra said the president’s handling of the new mining rules had caused widespread investor confusion, but the political party would not change the mining rules if its candidate, Prabowo, wins the presidency.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/indonesia-minerals-elections-idINL3N0M81A520140312