Quick Facts

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General election takes place on April 9.
12 parties are competing. Plus another three parties in semi-autonomous Aceh province.
There are 186,569,233 registered voters and 545,647 polling stations.
Personalities outweigh policies. Parties are either: secular centrist nationalist or Islamic-leaning centrist nationalist or conservative Islamic.
None of the major parties has a clean track record.
Entering politics is widely viewed as a means of gaining access to funds and power, rather than serving the people.
Campaigning means banners, noisy street rallies, music concerts and glib TV ads, rather than informed policy debates.
Big money will be spent on efforts to buy popularity. The parties have registered a total of Rp 927 billion ($83 million) for preliminary campaign budgets. More could come from illegitimate sources.
The biggest spender so far is ex-general Prabowo Subianto's Gerindra Party with a declared budget of over Rp 184 billion ($16 million).
Most people joining rallies are paid to do so.
Celebrities are recruited to enliven proceedings.
Parties have paramilitary security and "youth" wings, supposedly to ensure parades run smoothly but some become involved in thuggish activities.
Voting is done by piercing a ballot sheet with a nail. This is called coblos.
Before leaving a polling station, voters have to dip their index finger into "indelible" ink to prevent any multiple voting efforts.
Logistical problems are expected and losing parties will likely claim foul play.
The election process is supervised by the General Elections Commission (KPU), an organization which was created in 1999.
Vote counting will take about a month, possibly longer.
According to opinion polls, the top three parties will be PDIP, Golkar and Gerindra. The Islamic parties and the smaller nationalist-secular parties will have to form coalitions in order to field their own presidential candidate or to support another party's candidate.
Presidential election takes place on July 9. If there is no outright winner with a majority of over 50%, a run-off election between the top two contestants will be held in September.
Some parties won't name their presidential candidates until the general election results are known.
Prabowo was widely expected to win the presidential election until popular Jakarta Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo stole the limelight in 2013.
PDIP's candidate Jokowi is expected to win, as he represents fresh blood, change and hope.
On October 20, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will complete his second term and Indonesia's seventh president will be sworn in.

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