JAKARTA - INDONESIA'S presidential candidates held their final rallies on Saturday ahead of only the second direct elections for the country's head of state since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998.

Incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is riding high after his centrist Democratic Party tripled its vote in April's general election to become the largest party in parliament. He is hoping to win a clear majority in Wednesday's vote and avoid a run-off in September against either of the other two candidates - opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri or Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

The liberal ex-general has led most opinion polls and is predicting an easy first-round victory, but a survey released on Saturday showed Megawati with a 17-percentage point lead as the campaign period officially closed. Another poll however showed Dr Yudhoyono with a massive 63 per cent support, enough to cruise into a second term with a clear majority of the mainly Muslim country's 170 million eligible voters.

The election has been fought over issues such as endemic corruption, food prices and management of the archipelago's vast natural resources amid the pressures of globalisation and the world economic downturn.

Tens of thousands of supporters wearing the blue and white colours of the Democrats were packing into the national stadium in Jakarta on Saturday to hear Dr Yudhoyono, 59, give his last speech of the campaign. Meanwhile Mdm Megawati, 62, warned supporters to beware of electoral fraud as she campaigned in central Java.

'They think the people are stupid, can be manipulated, intimidated and terrorised,' she was quoted as saying by the Kompas news website, repeating her claims that electoral officials are biased toward Dr Yudhoyono.

Mdm Megawati, who leads the Democratic People's Party of Struggle, has a strong following as the daughter of independence hero Sukarno and was the figurehead of the opposition against Suharto's regime in the late 1990s. She became president of the world's third-largest democracy, after India and the United States, in 2001, but her administration is remembered for inaction and corruption and she was ousted in a landslide by Dr Yudhoyono in 2004.

The dark horse in the race is Dr Kalla, the charismatic leader of the Golkar Party, who has trailed in opinion polls but has proven to be a tough competitor on the campaign trail. With his motto of 'the faster, the better', Dr Kalla and his running mate, former military chief Wiranto, have attacked Dr Yudhoyono as a 'neo-liberal' and championed a philosophy of economic 'self-reliance'.

Mdm Megawati also advocates a 'people-centred economy' and her running mate, former special forces commander Prabowo Subianto, has openly compared his brand of economic nationalism to that of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

By contrast, Dr Yudhoyono chose Western-educated economist and former central bank governor Boediono as his vice presidential candidate, winning praise from the markets but opening himself to the 'neo-liberal' label. His popularity is based on his tough anti-corruption drive, resulting in convictions of several top officials, including his son's father-in-law, and a record of sound economic management. -- AFP

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