Actress Yulia Rachmawati, popularly known as Julia Perez, is being championed by seven political parties in Indonesia to become the vice regent of Pacitan, an East Javanese regency. Julia is a soap actress, singer and former model who appeared in various magazines such as FHM, Maxim France, and Playboy Indonesia. Julia will run for the regency's top post with President Yudhoyono's cousin Nur Cahyono.

According to a report by Metro TV, Nurcahyono said that he's optimistic about the chances of his running mate [id] and that Julia won't be a problem for his extended family, however the family's representative stated the opposite.

Several Indonesian bloggers are questioning Julia's candidacy since she's neither a politician nor a Pacitan native.

Rifky wrote a post on Politikana, an online community for political savvy Indonesians, which summarized the coalition's reasons for appointing Julia as a candidate in the elections.

Berkenaan dengan majunya Jupe sebagai calon Wakil Bupati Pacitan itu, koalisi partai pendukungnya mempunyai alasan dan dasar pertimbangan dimana menurut mereka itu kehadirannya Jupe yang merupakan artis tingkat nasional itu akan memecah kebekuan politik yang terjadi di Pacitan.

Disamping itu, Jupe juga mempunyai wilayah pergaulan yang luas itu diharapkan kelak dapat mendatangkan investor ke Pacitan ini. Sehingga dapat menjadi solusi bagi pembangunan di Pacitan yang hingga saat ini terbilang belum berkembang, malahan cenderung tertinggal dibandingkan dengan kabupaten di sekitarnya.

Julia is a well known celebrity; she is secretly adored by many Indonesian men but she is deemed ‘“too provocative” by Muslim organizations.

She made headlines in 2008 following her spat with Muslim organizations in some Indonesian cities which banned her from performing in a concert to promote her album titled “Kamasutra”. The organizations accused her of promoting immorality among youth by handing out a free condom tucked on the CD sleeves.

Blogger Wafi SL wonders if the current trend of appointing celebrities for political jobs could be translated as the country's shortage of credible politicians:

Setelah Ayu Azhari, sekarang giliran Julia Perez alias Jupe mencalonkan diri menjadi pejabat negara. Tak tanggung-tanggung, yang mendukungpun lumayan banyak yaitu 8 partai. Luar biasa!Fenomena yang tak bisa dianggap enteng. Karena itu menandakan partai politik telah gagal menciptakan kader politisi yang mumpuni sehingga jalan pintaspun diambil dengan cara menjadikan artis sebagai figur untuk meramaikan dunia politik. Kalau dulu artis hanya sebagai hiasan, sekarang telah berubah menjadi pelaku politik itu sendiri. Lha terus kadernya kemana saja?

Furthermore, Wafi predicts that in long run this so-called political blunder could make people lose their faith in politics even more:

Efek jangka pendek mungkin bisa dirasakan langsung oleh partai-partai pendukung artis semacam Jupe ini karena mungkin jumlah pemilih akan meningkat, terutama kaum pria. Tapi efek jangka panjang, apalagi jika Jupe gagal memperbaiki nasib rakyat-nya, maka saya berani menjamin akan menambah semakin banyaknya anggota “Partai Golput” seperti saya ini.

According to an East Javanese journal Surya, Julia is popular among first time voters. Sutikno, the coalition's representative said that many young people have become skeptical after witnessing how politicians and businessmen turned politicians have failed to empower the regency.

Groups supporting and against the actress’ candidacy have started to appear on Indonesia's current favorite social network Facebook.

Alip Priyono : Kira-kira seperti apa ya kalau bupati (wakil bupati) Pacitan nanti Julia  Perez? Kayaknya seru ya ngebayangin dia nanti mimpin rapat/upacara. Lebih seru lagi klo SBY nanti pensiun pulang ke Pacitan.

Putu Nova A Putra :  Di tivi ada berita Julia Perez mau dicalonkan sebagai bupati Pacitan-Jatim berpasangan dengan sepupu Pak SBY. Saya ga salah denger,ga salah lihat infotainment kan ya???? soale mata lagi merem-merem pas baru mau bangun sore. Mimpi Julia Perez lagi!!

Aan Ainur Rofik :  Susilo bambang Yudoyono (SBY) orang Pacitan setelah jadi TNI, Mentri trus sekarang Presiden RI setelah itu jadi artis kan habis ngeluarin Album, Lha sekarang Julia Perez  (JUPE) Setelah jadi artis ibukota eeeee jadi politisi maju Cawabub Pacitan….kita dukung Duet JUPE-SBY menjadi tokoh besarrrrrrrrrrrrr…….

Twitterers also react about the candidacy:

IraDalius Tuhan, dia siap tp kami TIDAK! RT @tweetdetik: Modal Baca Buku, Julia Perez nyatakan siap menjd calon Wakil Bupati Pacitan

marshacha: RT tweetdetik: Modal Baca Buku,Julia Perez atau Jupe menyatakan siap menjadi calon Wakil Bupati -> kalau gitu mah anak gw juga siaaap ….

indrapamungkas Start to think that Julia Perez doesn't necessarily worse than those dirty politician. At least she can ‘entertain’ people.

In latest development, news portal Detik reported [id] that many legislators have expressed support for Julia.

Pacitan regency in East Java province is synonymous with two things: its orange variety and sleepy fisherman's villages. The hilly regency was relatively unknown until one of its natives, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was elected president.