Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto explained the reason for involving the Indonesian National Army (TNI) and the Indonesian National Police (Polri) in food matters.

According to Prabowo, food issues are related to national security. 'If food is not secure, the country is not secure. And they realize that if it's not secure, it's the military and the police who will have a headache,' said Prabowo at the Presidential Office, Istana Negara, Central Jakarta, on Monday, May 5, 2025.

The former defense minister said that the TNI and Polri were involved in handling droughts. Indonesia, according to Prabowo, procured 80,000 pumps. Dozens of these devices required the involvement of TNI-Polri elements.

"We successfully brought in tens of thousands of pumps. Who installed them? well, we had to ask for help from the TNI and the Polri again," he said.

The TNI and Polri have begun actively addressing food issues since the end of former President Joko Widodo's term. The involvement of military and police personnel is marked by several events. One of them is when the Chief of the Indonesian National Police General Listyo Sigit Prabowo directed his subordinates to support President Prabowo's food program at the TNI-Polri Leadership Meeting on January 30, 2025 in Jakarta.

This support could take the form of police involvement in the utilization of productive land for agriculture. In addition, the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir, appointed Major General TNI Novi Helmy Prasetya as the President Director of Bulog. The three-star general, who previously served as the Territorial Assistant of the TNI Commander, replaced Wahyu Suparyono, who had not yet completed six months in office.

Military observer from the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS) Khairul Fahmi believes that Novi's appointment has violated Law Number 34 of 2004 concerning the TNI. The regulation stipulates that TNI personnel are prohibited from occupying civilian positions unless these positions are related to defense matters. Meanwhile, according to Fahmi, Novi's role in Bulog is not directly related to defense duties.

– Krisna Pradipta contributed to this article.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2004079/prabowos-reason-for-involving-the-military-in-food-matter