Jakarta – Like any other citizen in the country, celebrities are granted a constitutional right to run for a political position. Yet many question, if not doubt, the competency and capability of celebrities to be national or regional leaders.

Veteran actor Deddy Mizwar brushed aside criticism directed toward fellow celebrities running for political office. "Anyone, including celebrities, businesspeople or physicians, has the same constitutional right to be elected as one of the country's leaders," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Deddy, a prominent filmmaker, is the running mate of Ahmad Heryawan of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), who is seeking a second term as the governor of West Java, the nation's most populous province.

Deddy is not the only celebrity who is setting out to contest the election. Aside from the gubernatorial race, celebrities are also aiming for the country's top position.

Self-proclaimed king of dangdut Rhoma Irama recently expressed his willingness to run for president in 2014 after realizing his support from fans at an ulema group in East Jakarta. "This time, it feels as though I am hearing a calling [for the candidacy] from myself," Rhoma said as quoted by tempo.co recently.

Rhoma may be a popular figure, but he must convince political parties to provide support for his candidacy.

The current election law stipulates that a presidential candidate has to be supported by a party or a coalition of parties that has 25 percent of legislative votes, or 20 percent of seats in the House of Representatives in the legislative elections prior to the presidential election.

Like in other countries, celebrities in Indonesia have been used by political parties as "vote getters" during campaign periods. Surprisingly, 18 celebrities even made it into the House in the 2009 election.

Since then, the status of celebrities in Indonesia has shifted, according to political analyst with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Siti Zuhro. "In the past, celebrities were only used by political parties to garner votes. But now, they are the parties' icons," Siti said.

This shifting trend, according to her, shows that political parties are desperate to look for any necessary means to win elections.

Siti said these celebrities should also take a look at themselves to see whether or not they are capable of running the country because "it takes more than one night to learn about state administration".

She believed that celebrities would eventually disappear from the country's political contests. "In the 1999 election, political parties relied on ulema as their icons. But now, they have been cast aside. Celebrities will also end up like them," she said.

According to Maswadi Rauf, the University of Indonesia (UI) analyst, political parties have fooled people by installing celebrities as leaders. "Political parties have deceived people. Celebrities have excelled in arts and culture. They are not trained to lead the nation," he said.

Both Maswadi and Siti criticized the tactic of political parties always nominating notable figures in any election to gain more votes. "They just want to take shortcuts [to get votes] by endorsing well-known people," Maswadi said. (riz)

Local celebrities in politics (select list)

• 1990s action film star Dede Yusuf (West Java Deputy Governor)
• Singer and sinetron star Dicky Chandra (formerly Garut deputy regent; resigned in 2011)
• Sinetron and film star Zumi Zola (East Tanjung Jabung regent)
• 1980s film star Rano Karno (Incumbent Banten deputy governor, previously Tangerang deputy regent)
• Actor and singer Irwansyah (Independent candidate, 2013 Tangerang election)
• Actor and director Deddy Mizwar (West Java deputy governor candidate)
• Film and sinetron star Rieke Diah Pitaloka (incumbent House lawmaker, West Java gubernatorial candidate)