Indonesian election race begins

By Tim Johnston
BBC, Jakarta

Former minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is ahead in the polls

Campaigning has formally opened for Indonesia's presidential election.

Five candidates are contesting the 5 July poll, the first time Indonesians will directly elect their leader.

An opinion poll published on Tuesday showed former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had a clear lead over his closest challengers.

But the opinion poll suggested no candidate was likely to win more than 50% of the vote, an outcome which would trigger a run-off in September.

Trailing in second place was the incumbent president, Megawati Sukarnoputri.

But most analysts believe that she will lose out on election day to the one-time head of the armed forces, General Wiranto.

All the candidates are running on broad, secular nationalist platforms, but none can afford to ignore the Islamic vote and many of the vice-presidential candidates are drawn from Indonesia's moderate Muslim establishment.

Opinion polls show that the faltering economy and security are the biggest concerns of the electorate.

Manifestos released by the candidates so far have been long on promises and short on detail and most observers expect the election to be decided on personalities rather than policies.