Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Indonesia's presidential contenders packed final rallies in the capital Jakarta and the Central Java city of Solo on Saturday, ahead of the world's biggest single-day election.

Candidates enter a cooling-off period on Sunday, running through election day on Wednesday, when voters will choose among three contestants running to succeed the hugely popular President Joko Widodo, who has led Indonesia for a decade and cannot run again.

The contenders to lead the world's third-largest democracy are popular ex-governors Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan, and former special forces commander Prabowo Subianto, who has soared in opinion polls with the tacit backing of the president, and with the incumbent's son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his running mate.

At stake is the leadership for the next five years of a mineral-rich Group of 20 economy of 270 million people positioning itself as a future destination for multinational firms in the electric vehicle supply chain.

A light-blue wave took over Jakarta's main sports complex as hundreds of thousands of Prabowo's supporters gathered, many wearing T-shirts in his signature colour.

High-schooler Alfiatnan, 18, said she would vote for Prabowo because this was his third attempt at the presidency. "I think there's no harm giving opportunity to someone who is trying. His optimistic spirit influenced me to choose him."

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