“With our political rights, we therefore declare our full support for President Jokowi to continue improving the welfare of Indonesian farmers,” Moeldoko said at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, when Jokowi welcomed hundreds of HKTI representatives to open the association’s national coordination meeting (Rakornas).

Moeldoko cited the incumbent’s agrarian reforms as the grounds for the HKTI’s support, claiming that land redistribution, village funds and infrastructure development, among other programs, had helped improve farmers’ welfare and enhance food security in the country.

This was not the first time the HKTI, considered to be one of the most sought-after strategic posts by elite politicians, backed the incumbent.

Previously, Moeldoko’s predecessor Oesman Sapta Odang, also Hanura Party chief, publicly declared the association’s support for Jokowi in the 2014 presidential election. The Hanura Party is part of Jokowi’s coalition.

Past chairmen of the association include Jokowi’s contender Prabowo Subianto, who had been one of two men, the other being Oesman, claiming to be the legitimate head of the association since 2010, dividing the organization into two camps.

However, Moeldoko confirmed that his camp was the legal one.

The HKTI held its first national meeting under Moeldoko’s chairmanship since it elected him to the post in 2017 on Monday and Tuesday, just a month before the presidential election on April 17.

On the first day of the HKTI’s national coordination meeting on Monday, Moeldoko told more than 350 HKTI representatives that he would ask regional leaders to allocate funds for the HKTI as an organization that has a legal basis.

He said such measures were important as the HKTI was a strategic partner for local governments.

“If we position ourselves as strategic partners, then we have to seek a win-win solution, in which we help the local governments while the local administrations should also allocate funds to ensure that the HKTI will run well,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting.

He said he would soon send letters to regional leaders to propose his suggestions.

HKTI secretary-general Bambang Budi Waluyo conceded that as an independent organization which relied on donations, his association often found lack of funding as an obstacle in running its programs.

He said that unlike the Gapoktan farmers union, which had received funding from the Agriculture Ministry, his association’s regional chapters had yet to secure such incentives from local administrations.

“The funding will help the HKTI’s provincial chapters in establishing farmers’ business entities and cooperatives, as well as cover our operational costs. What is important is the funds will be used to help the farmers,” he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the meeting.

On the same occasion, Oesman, acting as the association’s advisory board chairman, suggested that the government cut down on imports that could harm farmers.

Importation policies remain a contentious issue in Indonesia, especially ahead of the election.

Unlike Prabowo, who has promised during his campaign not to import energy and food, Jokowi said in the first presidential debate in January that imports would still be necessary to stabilize prices and ensure stock in case of crop failures.

Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said in the meeting that talks surrounding the country’s imports tended to neglect its export performance, which he claimed had seen some improvement. (ars)

— Marguerite Afra Sapiie contributed to the story

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