Aubrey Belford, Jakarta – With his sculpted abdominals proudly displayed on his Facebook profile, male model Adrian Maulana cuts a very different figure to the ex-generals and dynastic heirs who dominate Indonesian politics.

He is at the forefront of a new push by Indonesian parties to field celebrities and other tabloid favourites – collectively known as "artis" – as candidates in next year's legislative election.

Sitting with his shirt on in a Japanese restaurant, the 30-year-old Maulana admitted he is "still learning" about politics even though he has already been accepted as a candidate by the liberal National Mandate Party (PAN).

The former engineering student, who was part of the 1998 protests that overthrew dictator Suharto is visibly uncomfortable, his voice quavering, when tackling policy questions.

However the sometime soap opera and film star said "artis" are quick learners and had to memorise scripts at short notice. They also have the common touch, he said.

"We celebrities, we are used to talking to the poor people, we are used to taking pictures with them. So we are more sensitive. We know what they want, we know what they need," he said.

The celebrity candidates are an attempt by parties to reconnect with a public that has become disillusioned with 10 years of democracy, persistent poverty and a steady stream of high-level graft scandals, analysts said.

Sitting lawmaker Nurul Arifin, herself a former actress, said the explosion of celebrity candidates for the April polls exposes how poorly parties have connected with Indonesian voters.

Parties remain the vehicles of big personalities with money. Any candidate who wants to break into politics needs stacks of cash to pay party members and promote themselves through advertising.

Celebrities, already well recognised by Indonesia's masses, get to bypass – or at least get a discount on – this process "because they already have social capital," Arifin said.

"I'm worried about the substance of these artis. Do they know the substance of politics? Do they know what it means to be a politician?" she asked.

The party most enthusiastically recruiting celebrities, Maulana's PAN, is working hard to make sure its famous candidates don't become embarrassments.

PAN has appointed its own "head of cinema and infotainment" to look after its 15 celebrities and has hired a private political consultancy to run special training sessions.

The star candidates gather at least weekly at a conference table in front of a bank of plasma screens for workshops on party strategy, current issues and political basics.

Political scientist Bima Arya Sugiyarto, who has been hired to help in the training, said some of his charges still had a lot of work to do before they could enter parliament. "For some people they do have an adequate knowledge of politics, for others they really are beginners," Sugiarto said.

The push for celebrities by parties across the spectrum is an acknowledgement that politicians are trying to combat a dirty reputation for brown-paper-bag politics, he said.

"Massive publicity for corruption scandals by party politicians has really damaged the image of party politics," he said. "They hope that by recruiting celebrities and public figures, the public will still vote for the parties' candidates."

PAN's celebrity coordinator, Amazon Dalimunthe, said the party valued the relatively clean image of celebrities enough to risk the ire of rank-and-file party members passed over for candidacy.

"Of course there's jealousy (from party cadres). They protested, but the party leadership is looking at it from a wider perspective," Dalimunthe said.

Celebrities have been embraced with fervour across much of Indonesia's fractious political spectrum.

The parties of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his main rival Megawati Sukarnoputri have recruited TV and film stars, joining tickets that include one of ex-general Yudhoyono's sons and one of Megawati's daughters.

Former special forces chief, alleged human rights violator and Suharto son-in-law Prabowo Subianto has also tapped a sweet-faced soap star to run with his nationalist Gerindra Party.

Even the Islamic United Development Party has a popular singer of "dangdut," an Arabic and Indian-infused pop music associated in equal parts with sleazy dens and the country's rural heartland.