Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said Friday the government plans to exclude individuals with no experience in governance from running for regional elections in a move that will likely bar entertainers aspiring to become regents.

The regulation is said to have been incorporated in the draft revision of the 2004 Regional Administration Law that will be submitted to the House of Representatives for deliberation in the middle of the year.

The minister told reporters at the State Palace that the government would also enforce a regulation in the existing law banning "morally flawed" regent hopefuls.

"A candidate must not have moral flaws. A person who commits adultery cannot be a regent. If they are caught (committing adultery) on video, they should be disqualified by the poll commission," Gamawan was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

The government's plans come on the heels of a surprise announcement by singer-actress Julia Perez that she planned to run in Pacitan, East Java, the hometown of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Julia has publicly admitted to having no experience in politics, but stressed her willingness to learn. "I believe the planned regulation is not only aimed at entertainers in general, but directed against me," she was quoted as saying by news portal detik.com.

Julia aroused controversy when she attached condoms to her cassettes and CDs for her album Belah Duren (Splitting Durian), an act deemed a campaign for promiscuity. Defending herself on television, she said that it was better to be "a former naughty girl than a former good girl".

The policy could also spell the end of the road for dangdut singer Maria Eva, who recently announced her bid to run as deputy Sidoarjo regent. Maria shot to fame when a video of her engaging in an affair with Golkar politician Yahya Zaini circulated on the Internet in 2006.

She was quoted as saying Friday by news portal tempointeraktif.com that she was not an adulterer and the regulation would not derail her political bid. "I was married to Yahya, although it was not registered."

Gamawan said the regulation was not meant to filter out entertainers wanting to become regional heads. He also dismissed Julia's allegations that the regulation was aimed at her.

He said that "experience in governance" should not be interpreted narrowly and that it also covered experience in political parties, parliament, regional councils and social organizations.

"We will not let a candidate with no experience win an election just because they are popular. The livelihoods of more than a million people are at stake here. Anyone is eligible to be a regional head, but not everybody should become one."

Despite facing skepticism and criticism, a number of entertainers have run for regional elections recently. Only a few of them, including actors Rano Karno and Dede Yusuf, ended up winning.

A 2009 survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute showed that of 65 entertainers running for legislative seats, only 17 were elected.

"Popularity is not a factor in regional elections," institute's analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi said, adding that according to the survey, moral integrity was the most important element voters looked for when electing their leaders.

He criticized the government's plan, saying that barring individuals with no expertise in bureaucracy from becoming regional heads was a violation of the Constitution. "What about academics who have the intellectual capacity to head regencies?" he said.