Jakarta – Telecoms workers on Tuesday threatened to go on strike if the government went ahead with plans to sell its 65 percent stake in international call operator PT. Indonesia Satellite Corp (Indosat).

"A strike will be the last resort. We are negotiating with the state enterprise ministry but it seems they are reluctant to discuss our proposals," said Abu Syukur Nasution of ISP Postel, a union of employees in the postal and telecoms sectors. "There's still miscommunication," Nasution said.

The strike is supported by staff at the state-run telephone operator PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) and postal service PT. Pos Indonesia, Nasution said, adding that no date has been determined. He said the workers would only carry out the strike threat if the move was supported by consumer protection activists.

Nasution said the telecommunication industry was strategic and selling Indosat cheap would inflict a loss to the nation. "We should instead strive to make Indosat better by restructuring it instead of selling it at a cheap price," he said. The government has several other viable options to plug a budget deficit, including issuing convertible bonds and selling Indosat's cellular subsidiaries such as Satelindo or IM3.

Last week some 300 workers from Telkom and Indosat staged a protest against the divestment plan. Cash-strapped Indonesia has embarked on an ambitious privatization program. But the program has faltered amid opposition from some politicians, members of the public and employees.

Last week US investment firm Farallon Capital won the bidding to buy a 51 percent government stake in Bank Central Asia, the country's largest retail bank, after lengthy wrangling among supporters and opponents of the divestment.

Powerful politician Amien Rais has said privatization would turn Indonesia into a "nation of coolies."

This year's budget envisages a deficit of 42.134 trillion rupiah, equivalent to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product. To help cover the shortfall, a privatization program is scheduled to contribute 3.952 trillion rupiah, with the rest coming from bank asset sales and foreign financing.