At 8am today, the regional elections in 101 provinces, regencies and cities throughout the Indonesian archipelago will open.

However, all eyes are on Jakarta and it’s 7.1 million voters as they decide who would become the city’s next governor – a key post sometimes jokingly referred to as the “third presidency”.

It’s three-month election campaign period has been marred by religious rhetoric, but the election is also seen as a prelude to the 2019 presidential election.