Jakarta – The Indonesian parliament will reject a proposal by the government to gradually lift fuel subsidies, saying it would be a burden on the nation's poor, a report said Tuesday.

"Whatever the excuse, the lifting of subsidies is unacceptable until mid-2000," Antonius Rahail, deputy chairman of the parliament's commission on mining was quoted as saying by the Kompas newspaper. "The government cannot just agree with the IMF without consulting us [the commission]," he added.

The mining and energy ministry's director general for oil and gas, Rachmat Sudibyo, has said the government will include the gradual scrapping of fuel subsidies starting April 1 in a new letter of intent with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The gradual elimination of state subsidies, including fuel, is one of the conditions set out by the IMF in return for a 43 billion dollar bailout plan to help the government overcome the economic crisis which has hit the country since mid-1997.

But Rahail said "for the sake of the nation's unity" the subsidy should be retained. "If the government needs additional funds for the state budget, better find other sources. Eliminate corruption seriously, don't sacrifice the people's interest," he said.

The increase in fuel prices amid the crippling economic crisis contributed to widespread riots in May 1998, which forced former president Suharto to resign after 32 years of iron-fisted rule.