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elieving in the democratic value that everyone has the same right to be a presidential candidate, Rhoma Irama, the country’s king of dangdut music, says that he is ready to go the distance in the 2014 presidential election.

Rhoma, who was born in Tasikmalaya as Raden Oma Irama, was quoted by tribunnews.com on Tuesday as saying that he was ready to run for the country’s top post if Indonesian people wanted him to.

So far, the Wasiat Ulama association and the Indonesia Malay Musicians Association (PAMMI) have endorsed the 65-year-old singer as their preferred presidential hopeful.

“Rhoma Irama has led his dangdut group Soneta for 40 years. The group is still going strong now, so it is a proof that Rhoma has good sense of leadership,” said Fachrurozy Ishaq, one of the leaders of Wasiat Ulama, in Jakarta last week.

The Wasiat Ulama stands ready to approach Islamic political parties to back Rhoma, since only political parties can officially nominate a presidential candidate.

Mahfudz Siddiq, the deputy secretary-general of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said as quoted by Antara news agency that Rhoma had a significant number of devoted fans and supporters.

“Dangdut followers could outnumber members of political parties,” he said.

No political parties, however, have said that they would consider Rhoma as their presidential pick.

Rhoma founded the prominent dangdut group Soneta in 1970. The group’s first album Begadang (Stay up all night), which featured a shirtless Rhoma in tight trousers on the cover, was a big hit. Rolling Stone Indonesia listed the album at number 11 out of the 150 greatest Indonesian albums of all time.

After performing haj in 1975, Rhoma featured several Islamic values as the theme of his songs, including “Judi” (Gambling) and “Haram” (Forbidden).

As a popular musician and actor, he has also garnered a relationship with political entities, especially Islamic parties.

Rhoma has built a reputation as a supporter of Islamic party the United Development Party (PPP) since the New Order era. The Soeharto regime officially banned his songs when he campaigned for PPP from 1977 to 1982.

During the recent Jakarta gubernatorial election, Rhoma campaigned for Fauzi Bowo and his running mate, Nachrowi Ramli. He delivered a controversial sermon against Fauzi’s rivals, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his running mate, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, during prayers at a mosque.

Though he was cleared of any campaign violations, Rhoma’s statement was widely criticized, mostly by Internet users. The larger-than-life singer delivered a tearful formal apology for his sermon, which advised Muslim voters to choose a Muslim leader.

Regarding his current interest in running for president, Twitter users have made a number of jokes under the hash tag #RhomaforPresident, which mostly contains satirical jokes about Rhoma’s physical appearance and personal life. (lfr)