Jakarta- Indonesia's dozens of political parties ended Sunday their nationwide campaigns for the April 9 parliamentary elections, to be followed by presidential elections in July.

More than 171 million voters are eligible to elect some 18,000 national, provincial and district legislators across the country as well as the regional representatives council.

There was no major violence reported during the 20-day nationwide campaigns - which began March 16 - compared with frequently widespread clashes or fighting between supporters of rival contestants under former president Suharto's
32-year authoritarian administration.

Analysts expressed concerns of worsening vote-buying during this year's elections due to an extremely stiff competition between candidates. They claimed that hundreds of thousands of candidates from 38 political parties are fighting for more than 18,000 seats in national, provincial and district-level parliaments, as well as the regional representatives council.

In addition, the longer nine-month campaigning period, compared to less than a month in 2004, combined with a new electoral system that allows voters to directly choose the candidates, instead of for the political parties, was another reason of more rampant vote-buying practices, observers said.

Under new election rules, eligible voters would vote directly for candidates at the national, provincial and district levels for the first time. Previously, voters selected only parties.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who also heads the Democratic Party, ended his campaign in central Java province, while Vice President Jusuf Kalla, the chairman of the Golkar Party, will end his campaign in Bali and West Sumatra provinces.

Only parties or coalitions that win 20 per cent of the seats in the House of Representatives, or 25 per cent of the popular vote, may field presidential candidates, which could turn minor parties into powerbrokers as the main parties try to put together coalitions.

More than 1.4 million security officers, including police and military personnel are to be deployed to safeguard the elections, and the country's national police chief, General Bambang Hendarso Danuri, has ordered all officers across the country to remain neutral during the campaign.

Meanwhile, as the polling day is only a few days away, this week's elections are being overshadowed by logistical and voter list problems.

The April 9 general election will be followed by the presidential and vice presidential polls scheduled on July 8. A run-off was scheduled in September, if no candidate wins a majority of the vote the first time. (dpa)