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Indonesia, the fourth largest country in the world by population behind China, India and the U.S., and the most populous Muslim nation on earth, is gearing up for its third presidential election since 2005.July 9 will mark the first time the country replaces one directly elected President with another.
The country's estimated 187 million registered voters out of a total estimated population of 254 million, will choose from two leading candidates. Prabowo Subianto and his vice presidential running mate Hatta Rajasa are going up against former Jakarta governor Joko Jokowi Widodo and Jusuf Kalla.
Incumbent president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is constitutionally barred from seeking a third five-year term in the third biggest democracy in the world.
Prabowo is seen by many Indonesians as the candidate of the Islamic community. In his campaign, he presents himself as a national hero and a strong supporter of human rights.
But his critics argue he has yet to adequately explain rights abuses that took place when he was head of the country's Special Forces 16 years ago. That is when the reclusive dictator Suharto and his family relinquished power after 32 years of corrupt rule, the worst of the 20th century, according to some historians.
Strangely enough, Prabowo is Suharto's son-in-law. Suharto died in Jakarta, the country's capital, in 1998 of apparent natural causes at the age of 86.
According to published reports at the time, toward the end of Suharto's rule, military units abducted and tortured 23 democracy activists, 13 of whom have not been seen since. Riots followed, leading to at least 1,000 deaths and scores of rapes.
One of the men accused of having orchestrated these abuses is Prabowo, the candidate who now claims he is "the strongest defender of human rights in this republic."
Jokowi, once the front-runner earlier in the campaign, is mainly letting Prabowo's critics talk for him. He has largely been silent on his policies, but he had announced that if elected he would cut costly fuel subsidies.
Jokowi supporters argue their candidate's straight-forward style sets him apart from an aloof and elitist political establishment that has long dominated Indonesia.
His decision to choose Kalla as vice president is seen helping to bring strong business credentials to the presidential ticket.
Most Americans know little about Indonesia, other than its capital, Jakarta, is about 10,000 air miles from New York City. Indonesia itself is made up of a cluster of 6,000 islands totaling about 736,000 square miles. This makes it the 19th largest country in the world based on total land mass, according to Wikipedia.
Jakarta's 10.1 million population isn't just the most populous city in Indonesia. It's also the most populous in Southeast Asia and the 13th most populated city on earth.
