<B>INDONESIANS</B> were voting in parliamentary elections yesterday in a crowded contest expected to see the former political party of ousted strongman Suharto win the most votes, but not a majority.

Nearly 600,000 polling stations opened in stages across the three time zones of the world?s most populous Muslim country amid tight security. The ballot has been billed as the biggest one-day vote in history, and is only Indonesia?s second democratic election since Suharto?s fall in 1998.

A win for Golkar, which has sought to distance itself from the former autocrat who ruled for three decades, could badly dent President Megawati Sukarnoputri?s chances of winning a second term in Indonesia?s first direct presidential election on July 5.

?The economy has suffered, the economic recovery has not yet finished. And you know the increasing of unemployment, the poverty. Everything now, the prices are high. That is why the people are not happy,? said Golkar presidential candidate Akbar Tandjung as he cast his vote near his home in Jakarta.

?They know Golkar were already in power for 32 years. They know Golkar has the experience.? Indonesia is Southeast Asia?s largest economy and Asia?s only member of the OPEC oil cartel.

Monday?s results will be followed by a scramble to build coalitions before the presidential election, in which recent opinion polls show Megawati has lost the status of frontrunner.

Amid fears of unrest, National Police Chief General Da?i Bachtiar said 275,000 police had been deployed. The military were on alert in separatist hotspots such as Papua and Aceh.

The ballot will test the popularity of conservative Islamist parties in the wake of bomb attacks by militants linked to Osama bin Laden. So far, there is little sign that political disillusionment has flowed into support for Islamist politics.

<B>Two days at least for a clear trend</B>

Polling booths in eastern Indonesia were the first to open. The region includes Papua, about 3,000 km east of Jakarta, where independence demands have simmered for decades. The separatist campaigns in Aceh and Papua have not been a major factor in election campaigning.

Dozens of mostly illiterate Asolokabal villagers sat in the blazing sun south of the town of Waimena in Papua and watched officials give voting demonstrations. The newspaper-size ballots with dozens of parties and scores of candidates caused some problems. ?It?s confusing because the ballot paper is so big,? said a voter in South Jakarta. ?After you open it, it?s hard to close it back up.? Some voters had to ask election officials for help. Streets in the normally bustling capital were empty, with a national holiday declared.

Departing from her party?s black-and-red colours, which she wore during campaign appearances, Megawati was in white and pink as she voted near her home in the leafy, upscale Jakarta residential area of Menteng.

She made no comments to the media but smiled and held up a finger marked with ink showing she had voted.

In the same neighbourhood, Suharto, 82, who has featured in advertising for a party he backs run by one of his daughters, was accompanied by her and dozens of supporters as he strolled, unaided except for a walking stick, to vote near his home.

His lawyers say he is too sick to face trial on corruption charges. Given the size of Indonesia and the logistical challenges, it may be a day or two before enough votes are counted to indicate a clear trend.

With polls showing around 30 percent of the electorate undecided or declining to reveal their preferences, the election in the world?s fourth-most populous country could yield surprises. ?The sheer magnitude of the election in Indonesia is really quite astonishing,? said US Ambassador Ralph Boyce.

More than 147 million voters are eligible to participate in elections for the 550-seat parliament and local legislatures. A total of 7,800 candidates from 24 parties are competing. Megawati?s Indonesia Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) won 34 per cent of the last poll in 1999, the highest of any party. Golkar won 22.5 per cent. Both are secular nationalist parties.