Artists

The election campaign has gone a bit quiet as it has been overtaken by other more juicy news.

The one election issue in the news at the moment is the trend for celebrities to stand for election. The idea is that soap opera stars will bring voters flocking to parties because of name recognition and their "attractive appearance" as one TV station put it.

Not everybody is happy about this. A candidate for the National Mandate Party (PAN) was complaining bitterly that artists on the list mean that other candidates get pushed further down the list, thus reducing their chances of winning a seat in the legislature. Presumably the celebs see a seat as a fixed and definite source of income, given the fickle tastes of the TV-viewing public. Presumably also, they don't have to pay the parties for the privilege of being an official candidate - one party demands Rp50 million (about US$5,300 ) from each prospective candidate.

The problem is that once elected, they need to get the money back. Any guesses how they do that?

Answers coming soon...

STOP PRESS: "Kompas" newpaper published some figures on 18/1/09. It seems that PAN has a total of 25 celebs standing for the party, or nearly half the total of 59. Some way behind at number two is Hanura with 9. The PPP and the Democrat Party have 4 each.