Jakarta – In the run-up to the selection of legislative candidates in April, political parties have started to pick familiar faces that will attract voters to their parties in the upcoming 2014 legislative election.
Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party secretary-general Ahmad Muzani said that the party had started discussions with several celebrities, including actress Happy Salma and actor/singer Irwansyah.
"We have talked to Happy Salma, Irwansyah and another one whose name I don't remember. They came to me and expressed their interests in joining us," Muzani said Wednesday.
However, he added, the party had yet to decide whether or not the actors would be nominated by the party for the legislative race.
"We are arranging a system in which each cadre or newcomer interested in the nomination will get scored [based on certain criteria]. We will sum up the scores [to compare all cadres]," Muzani said.
National Mandate Party (PAN) faction chairman Tjatur Sapto Edi said that the party had held discussions with several celebrities.
"There are [singer] Ikang Fawzi and wife [actress-turned-politician] Marissa Haque and [TV personality] Dessy Ratnasari," Tjatur said, adding that his party welcomed anyone regardless their background.
"So long they don't have legal issues, have a good track record and are able to gather as many votes as possible. Celebrity is just another profession – we don't judge a potential nominee on his/her stardom," he added as quoted by kompas.com.
Political parties have been long known for their move to gather as many votes as they can by, among other things, recruiting celebrities as legislative candidates. Several names, including troubled Democratic Party politician Angelina Sondakh, actor Primus Yustisio, soap-opera star Vena Melinda and comedian Eko "Patrio" Hendro Purnomo, are examples of celebrities who currently serve as members of the House of Representatives.
Angelina, the winner of the Putri Indonesia 2001 beauty pageant, has just been sentenced to four-and-half years in prison in a graft case for abusing her authority as a lawmaker. (swd)