Minim Kader Mumpuni, Political Parties Recruit Celebrities as Legislative Candidates

Registration for legislative candidates (caleg) closed on July 17, 2018, with many artists nominated by political parties to become members of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) for the 2019-2024 period. Due to a lack of qualified internal party cadres with strong public recognition for next year's legislative election, political parties sought an easy solution by recruiting artists to garner votes.

According to data from Okami.id, 54 artists registered as legislative candidates. Names such as Nurul Arifin, Rieke Diah Pitaloka, Katon Bagaskara, Annisa Bahar, and Giring Nidji are among the artists running for public office. However, many are pessimistic about these artists' ability to channel the aspirations of the people, especially those who are first-time members of the DPR RI.

The National Democrat Party (NasDem) is recorded as the party that nominated the most artists, with 27, including Olla Ramlan, Vicky Shu, and Sahrul Gunawan. In second place is the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with 13 artist candidates, followed by the National Awakening Party (PKB) with 7.