Prabowo Pounds the Podium at Cooperative Launch: 'We Are Not a Defeated Nation'

President Prabowo Subianto affirmed that Indonesia is not a weak and defeated nation. He urged all parties to eliminate the mentality of being a defeated nation.

Prabowo made these remarks during the inauguration of the operations of 1,601 Merah Putih Cooperatives in Nganjuk, East Java, on Saturday (16/5).

Prabowo initially stated that he had received reports that in August, 30,000 Merah Putih Cooperatives would be inaugurated.

“I was informed that in August, we will launch the inauguration of 30,000 cooperatives,” Prabowo said, as quoted from the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel, Saturday.

According to him, even if that target is not achieved, the government’s efforts in building Merah Putih Cooperatives are still an achievement.

He said that it is rare for a country to be able to build tens of thousands of cooperatives in one year.

“If, for example, it doesn’t reach 30,000, but only reaches 20,000. I say that 20,000 is an achievement that I think is rarely found in other countries. Please conduct research on which country has built and inaugurated 20,000 cooperatives in one year, I think it is rare,” said Prabowo.

Prabowo said that this achievement also shows that the government and state institutions can do extraordinary things if they have the determination and work together.

While pounding the podium several times, Prabowo affirmed that Indonesia is not a weak and defeated nation.

“We must eliminate the mindset that we are a weak nation, that we are a defeated nation, no. We must not be a defeated nation, we must be a winning nation and we will win, we will be strong, we will rise,” he said.