Indonesia votes in landmark poll
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 The world's largest Muslim population prepares to elect its leader.
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JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesians are voting for the first time to elect their nation's president and vice president.
Polls opened early Monday morning with 140,000 police officers deployed across the world's third largest democracy after reports of several bomb hoaxes.
After six months of campaigning, incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri is contesting in a runoff election against her former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"For Indonesians, for the first time in history to be able to choose their own president is wonderful," Merle Ricklefs, an Indonesia expert at the University of Melbourne, told Reuters.
"But given the administrative and political realities of Indonesia, no matter who is president they can't do very much. There is a risk that if (Yudhoyono) doesn't perform it could discredit the whole democratic system."
Polls give Yudhoyono a massive lead, and although Megawati has been out and talked to people -- something she rarely does -- analysts say it may be too late to convince Indonesia's 151 million voters.
Susilo, a 54-year-old career soldier, quit his post as security minister under Megawati in March, after a public dispute over his political ambitions.
While both contenders are nearly identical on many issues, the upstart Yudhoyono has put security at the top of his campaign agenda.
The contest comes 11 days after a suicide bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta killed nine Indonesians.
It was the latest of three major terror attacks to hit Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim nation -- in two years.
The Jakarta attack was blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) -- which intelligence experts say is the regional arm of al Qaeda.
Although they have both pledged to get tough on terror, neither contender has condemned JI, which is banned by the United States.
A recent poll shows the electorate, and its leaders, are in a high-level of denial about the existence of the al Qaeda-linked group.
The group -- whose name translates as "the Muslim community" -- has never been acknowledged officially, and even after last week's bombing the majority of Indonesians do not believe it exists.
If you cannot name it, analysts say, it does not exist.
Partly because of elections and Muslim sensitivities, politicians have chosen not to alienate, but to court, the hardline vote in this nation of 212 million.
"I think politicians are still unwilling to confront this issue directly," political analyst Jeffrey Winters says.
"I think the answer is to say no matter what these people claim to be, they are not us."
Apart from security, analysts have said Yudhoyono's biggest draw is the electorate's dissatisfaction with Megawati's performance over the last three years.
The former military general is seen as a strong, decisive and capable leader.
On the other hand analysts say the 57-year-old Megawati has lost her supporters' hopes for a better future through weak leadership and lack of political will.
For her part, Megawati has trumpeted her economic record, and although Indonesians say their main concerns are bread and butter issues, the timing of the Jakarta attack could go against her on Monday.
Polls close at 1 p.m. in the world's largest archipelago with first estimates available within 12 hours. Final results are due on October 5.
CNN Jakarta Bureau Chief Maria Ressa contributed to this report.
