Jakarta. Titiek Soeharto, the daughter of the late President Soeharto and ex-wife of President-Elect Prabowo Subianto, is now back as a lawmaker. 

Titiek was previously a member of the House of Representatives in 2014 and was reelected in the 2024 legislative election. As a lawmaker, Titiek is hoping that she gets reassigned to the House’s Fourth Commission which is responsible for agricultural, environmental, forestry, and marine affairs. Titiek was a member of this commission in her first term as a lawmaker.

“If God is willing, I hope I can be in the Fourth Commission again, … in line with Pak Harto’s dream of achieving food self-sufficiency and also advance Mr. Prabowo’s programs so Indonesia can be self-sufficient in food,” Titiek said in Jakarta on Thursday. 

Titiek said she was optimistic that Indonesia could achieve food self-sufficiency, citing the large farmer population and the country’s huge agricultural land size as reasons. A country is considered self-sufficient in food if it can produce enough food for its population without having to import. Titiek added: “It is possible. If there are no leaks [of imports], we can do it.”

Titiek became a lawmaker for the 2024-2029 term after gaining 145,489 votes from her electoral district in Yogyakarta. Earlier this week, 580 lawmakers who will serve the House for the next five years took their oath. 

Earlier this year, Prabowo stated his commitment to address the national poverty and hunger, while saying that Indonesia could be self-sufficient in staple crops such as rice and corn within four years of his presidency. Prabowo also has the flagship policy of feeding Indonesian students free lunches to cut down the national stunting rate