Prabowo feels close to farmers due to his experience as a military commander

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto said that there is a close relationship between him and farmers, given his experience as a soldier and his tenure as Chairman of the Indonesian Farmers’ Harmony Association (HKTI).

“I feel close to farmers because I have been Chairman of HKTI for quite some time,” said President Prabowo Subianto at the simultaneous corn harvest event and the inauguration of the construction of 10 food security buildings for the National Police in Tuban Regency, East Java, which was monitored online from Jakarta, Saturday.

Not only because of his experience as Chairman of HKTI, his experience as a military commander also added to his closeness with farmers.

“I used to be a military commander, when we set out on a military operation, what we checked was not bullets, but we checked first whether there was rice or not,” said Prabowo.

The Head of State conveyed that the availability of rice supplies is very important for soldiers because it can help calculate how long the military operation can last.

Not only that, referring to the history of Indonesia’s independence struggle, when the military received support from ordinary people who mostly worked as farmers. This support was important because at that time many soldiers and police officers had not received adequate wages.

This then continued in the modern era when villagers provided food they had to soldiers in training, including when the President was still a cadet.

“That is the history of how I became more aware at that time of the importance of farmers and fishermen. Farmers and fishermen are the producers of food for the entire nation and country,” said Prabowo Subianto.