Indonesians have been voting in parliamentary elections today in a crowded contest billed as the biggest one-day vote in history. National police say there were no reports of violence despite earlier fears of election-related attacks by Islamic radicals. The outcome of this legislative election could be crucial to President Megawati Suakarnoputri's hopes of retaining her job in the country's first direct presidential election in July.

Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam

Speakers: Margaret May, Australian Federal MP, head of Australian parliamentary observer mission

May: We're actually at a polling station somewhere in Semarang, I can't tell you the street of course, but one of the polling stations, in fact it's polling station number 22. I can see it from here, and we've just been observing the count that's going on here at this polling booth. The whole election process has gone extremely well, most of the community or a lot of the community here to watch the votes as the day unfolds. There are certainly families here watching with great interest and I can say that we're pretty happy with the way that it is all unfolding and the way that it's been undertaken. The entire day I think we could say was a huge success in the way it's been undertaken.

Lam: The election of course has been billed as the biggest and most complex one-day vote in history. So logistically did you see any evidence at all that there was a little bit too much for the Indonesian authorities to handle?

May: Well no we didn't and we certainly expected that there may have been some hiccups but when you think of the logistics of putting an election together like this and I can only compare it to what we do in Australia, that the logistics of putting this together were enormous. We've certainly had a few days on the ground to observe what has gone on as far as getting those ballot papers out to the communities. We've been really surprised at the smoothness and the professionalism of the way the entire operation has been undertaken. Each community, each polling booth we've visited today from six-thirty this morning, there has not been one complaint about the way in which this has been undertaken.

Lam: So you and your colleagues have not seen anything that was troubling or of concern to you?

May: No we haven't at all, even as far as the registration and the marking off of people's names, it was all very orderly. The registration lists were at each polling booth so people as they arrived this morning they were able to have their names marked off, wait to be called to cast their vote, all the material was there and we were amazed that that has happened.

Lam: Prior to polling day we had reports that people were not sufficiently briefed on polling given the complexities involved. Did you see much evidence of people, of voters missing out because they didn't know where to go or how to cast their ballots?

May: Well we certainly didn't and prior to today we did ask about the education program, I was particularly interested in that myself in how the education program had been undertaken and whether the officials felt that the voters themselves had enough information so that they knew when they were casting their votes it was going to be a valid vote. We also raised that issue with a number of the parties leading into today. They were also very complementary about the education program and they themselves have undertaken a lot of education. People do know what they're doing; they do understand what they have to do to cast a valid vote. So I could really say from what I've seen that the education process has been successful.

Lam: The Indonesian archipelago of course covers three time zones. Are you confident that all eligible Indonesians who wanted to vote, especially those in remote regions, managed to cast their ballots?

May: Well we've talked to outlying areas and to date the information we have back is that anyone who wants to vote will be able to vote with the ballot papers and the information has gone out to all those far flung places.

Lam: And you're of course in central Java as you say, which is the most heavily populated area in Indonesia. What about provinces like Papua and Aceh? Are there representatives there monitoring the election?

May: From Australia I'm not aware of anyone in those areas, but I know there are a lot of teams on the ground from the EU, other American teams so I would imagine each and every one of those areas is being covered by some international observers. Certainly we've been deployed to a lot of areas, not all MPs but certainly officials, so my understanding is that most of Indonesia will be covered by international observer teams.

Lam: But from what you've seen today in central Java at least you're quite happy with the way the day has unfolded?

May: Well I am extremely happy, I think for the people themselves they've been given a safe environment, a very transparent environment in which they can cast their vote. There's been a sense of joy, happiness you can certainly feel that with the people, they've certainly turned up, even from early this morning the first polling booth at six-thirty this morning. You know people are out, they wanted to cast their vote, they were there to do it and you had this sense that they felt secure in the fact that they could do it without any sort of intimidation at all.