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Energy Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh dropped a bombshell on Wednesday morning by insisting that the West Nusa Tenggara local governments head up the consortium to purchase the 14 percent stake being compulsorily divested by PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, a unit of US-based Newmont Mining.

In a text message sent to reporters, Darwin said: “Antam [state-owned miner PT Aneka Tambang] will not be leading the consortium, and any reports to the contrary are wrong. The central government believes that the local governments should lead the consortium to purchase the divested Newmont stake.”

Darwin added that the decision to give the leading role to the local governments had been confirmed at a meeting on Tuesday between the coordinating minister for the economy, and the ministers of energy, finance and state enterprises.

His announcement came after Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said on Tuesday that Antam would represent the central government in purchasing the 14 percent stake, which had been interpreted as meaning that Antam would lead the consortium.

Hatta’s comments had been warmly applauded by analysts, who said Antam’s anticipated leadership of the consortium would put an end to the Bakrie group’s attempt to take control of the entire 31 percent stake that Newmont Nusa Tenggara is required to divest under its 1986 contract of work by 2010.

The governments of West Nusa Tenggara and Sumbawa and West Sumbawa districts had formed a joint venture company, called PT Daerah Maju Bersaing, to negotiate for the stake on their behalf.

They then agreed to form a new joint venture with PT Multicapital, owned by Bakrie units PT Bumi Resources and PT Bakrie Capital, to strengthen their bid for the stake. Multicapital owns 75 percent of the new joint venture company, which has yet to be established, and has also been assigned the task of raising financing to purchase the stake.

This means that the Bakrie group could end up owning a major portion of the stake that NNT is required to divest by 2010, and will effectively gain control of NNT’s lucrative gold and copper mine on Sumbawa Island.

It would mark the third time that the Bakrie group has triumphed over the state, after securing stakes in PT Kaltim Prima Coal from BHP and Rio Tinto, and PT Arutmin Indonesia from BHP early this decade.

Responding to Darwin’s text message, Alwinsyah Lubis, Antam’s president director, commented: “We did not know that the local governments would lead the consortium. We had already started to seek the necessary financing.”

Pri Agung Rakhmanto, an energy analyst at the Reforminer Institute, said he was disappointed by the decision as it appeared to be politically motivated and dashed hopes that the central government would finally prove itself serious about securing control of the country’s strategic assets.

Analysts have had concerns that giving local administrations control over the divestment process would lead to Bakrie group’s private control over resources. Such an arrangement runs contrary to the goal of lifting up local communities.