Laurel Teo – In a country where two in three watch television almost every day, the goggle box has turned into a fierce battle- ground for Indonesian politicians.

From the biggest parties flush with funds, such as Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), to newer and humbler ones such as the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party, they have all snapped up advertisement slots.

Some take the soft-sell route, such as Golkar candidate Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo, whose clip runs like a slick tourism ad.

It begins with him saying: "My name is Prabowo, and I love Indonesia." The camera then pans across terraced padi fields and other scenic vistas, with the retired lieutenant-general speaking about national pride and love. His ad ends with him uttering the same simple line as in the start.

Others get their messages across more directly. National Mandate Party (PAN) leader Amien Rais, for instance, is seen crushed in the eager embraces of impoverished citizens, with a look of determination on his face.

And former president Suharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana has an ad featuring farmers saying that they crave a return of what is called the Suharto era of economic stability. Ms Siti's Concern for the Nation Functional Party has been campaigning on the promise of restoring Indonesia to the good times of her father's era.

A medium little used in previous elections, television has soared in popularity among the 24 parties taking part in the April 5 election, thanks to the inroads it has made into Indonesian homes, rural and urban alike.

A survey by the Asia Foundation last year showed that two in three voters here watch TV almost every day. And in a country where many citizens are poorly educated, where on average one in four never makes it past primary school, television is their main source of information. Three in four in that same survey said watching TV was how they found out what was going on in the country.

Analysts said in a Reuters report on Sunday that most voters are not savvy about issues either, and tend to decide on the basis of the personality of party leaders, their simplistic messages and the party's number on the ballot sheet.

Politicians know to zoom in on this. Most of their ads are simple and feature prominently their party's number on the ballot paper.

In her ads, President Megawati Sukarnoputri dishes out a very plain instruction that has become the catchphrase of the year. "Punch the white snout!" she declares in clips for PDI-P, which feature her in a bright red dress, the number 18, and the party logo of a black bull with fiery red eyes and a white nose. On Election Day, voters need to punch a hole in the party logo, which is assigned a number on the ballot paper.

According to Reuters, about 230 political party ads run on the country's 11 channels on any given day.

The red-and-black ads of PDI-P dominate the airwaves, taking up more than 40 per cent of the aired spots so far, an Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information survey showed. A spokesman for leading TV station Indosiar told The Straits Times that a 30-second slot costs between 2 million rupiah (about S$390) and 20 million rupiah.

As to the effectiveness of the ads, marketing expert Hermawan Kertajata thinks novelty is on their side. "It's still new, so people are interested to see. They're also much safer. No physical violence will break out on TV," quipped the president of the World Marketing Association.

The candidate: Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana of the PKPB

The pitch: Former president Suharto's daughter has an ad featuring farmers saying that they crave the return of what is called the Suharto era of economic stability.

The candidate: Amien Rais of PAN

The pitch: In his ads, the leader of the National Mandate Party is shown crushed in the eager embraces of impoverished citizens, with a look of determination on his face.

The candidate: Megawati Sukarnoputri of the PDI-P

The pitch: 'Punch the white snout!' she declares in the ads, which show her standing in front of a black bull with a white nose. On Election Day, voters need to punch a hole in the party logo.

The candidate: Akbar Tandjung of Golkar

The pitch: His ad parades a multi-ethnic line-up of ordinary folk who are representative of the party's nationalist image, after which Mr Akbar comes on to pitch for Golkar.