(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
Indonesians have been choosing their next president, from two very different candidates.
Abby Dinham reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
One is a former senior military officer, linked to murder, torture and kidnapping, the other a self-made man, who grew up in a riverbank shack, before becoming a businessman and eventually the governor of Jakarta.
The past month of feverish campaigning has featured a Nazi scandal on one side, a candidate having to prove his faith on the other, and a few clues on what Australia can expect from its neighbour over the next five years.
"We promise we will eradicate poverty in Indonesia. And we will eradicate corruption in Indonesia, brothers and sisters."
That's Prabowo Subianto an Indonesian businessman, politician and a former Lieutenant-General in the Indonesian National Armed Forces.
He admitted to being part of a kidnapping of 23 anti-government activists in 1998 - under the regime of his then father-in-law, Suharto.
But he claims he only kidnapped those who survived the ordeal not the 14 who didn't.
He was never charged, and maintains he was acting on orders.
Mugiyanto was one of those kidnapped.
He says he was interrogated and and tortured for two days.
He claims Prabowo was directly involved in the deaths of those who didn't survive the incident.
"It is difficult for me to imagine that he will be the president. You know, it is difficult. And that is the reason why I work very hard for the last 16 years basically for justice for this person to be held accountable and very intensively, currently, for this person not to be elected."
Prabowo's entourage also feature prominent names from Suharto regime, such as Yunus Yosfiah who was the in charge in 1975 on the day that Australian journalists were killed in Balibo in East Timor.
His ex-wife Titiek, Suharto's daughter, also lent her support.
The editor of the Jakarta Post, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, says any corruption-busting is highly unlikely.
"When you have a coalition where the chairmen of most of the parties there, almost the majority of the party or senior members of the parties there have been indicted for corrupt activities then that's a good question - how are you going to do that?"
Prabowo's popularity has grown throughout the presidential race, appealing to voters who want a strong and charismatic leader.
He also blames foreign powers, elite classes and money politics for keeping Indonesia from thriving; despite, however, being a product of the elite himself.
But nothing has slowed Prabowo's upward march, not even the international outrage that erupted when his rock star supporter Ahmad Dhani appeared in a campaign video wearing Nazi garb.
The other candidate is Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi.
His upbringing was very different from his rival.
Born in a shack on the riverbank, Jokowi graduated from university with a degree in engineering and later became a smalltown furniture seller.
From there, he was elected local governor and then governor of Jakarta, introducing measures such as free healthcare and rebuilding houses and parks to benefit the districts poorest populations.
The Jakarta Post's Meidyatama Suryodiningrat says his supporters admire his fight against corruption, humble demeanour and ability to get things done against the odds.
"Jokowi is a breath of fresh air. I think the main thing that he does offer is hope. For a clean and better governance and a government that actually executes what it says."
Mud-slinging from the outset of the campaign has eroded Jokowi's support.
One tactic has been to plant questions in voters' minds about whether he really is a Muslim, or a Christian.
This matters in Muslim-majority Indonesia, and when Jokowi campaigns on the slogan "Jokowi adalah kita" - or Jokowi is us - it matters more.
Whoever wins will have the monumental task of repairing strained relations with Australia.
Until last year's spying scandal and tensions over the Abbott government asylum boat turn-backs, the decade of rule under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was a period where Indonesia-Australia relations improved.
It's an area Jokowi addressed in a pre-election debate with Prabowo.
"What is wrong with Indonesia's relationship with Australia which seems so often to go up and down - and very often to run hot and cold? // "Maybe Australia has a kind of suspicion even phobia, towards us. We have launched military actions several times and maybe they think we are a threat. So in my opinion, it will be our job to convince our friends in Australia that we want to be good neighbours."
The official vote count in the world's biggest archipelago nation, which sprawls over three time zones and 17,000 islands, will take some weeks.
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