By Stanley Widianto

JAKARTA (Reuters) – The first of three candidates vying to succeed Indonesian President Joko Widodo registered with the national poll body on Thursday, kicking off election season in the world’s third-largest democracy.

Nearly 205 million of Indonesia’s more than 270 million people will in February get to choose who will lead the resource-rich country with an economy of more than $1 trillion, and take on an ambitious drive to boost foreign investment, develop downstream industries and move away from fossil fuels.

The presidential race is expected to be dominated by three men – Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, 72, and popular former governors Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan, both 54.

Thousands of supporters gathered in central Jakarta, cheering and waving party flags as Anies and his running mate arrived in an open-roofed jeep at the election commission.

“We are bringing the idea of change, changes that will be felt by families in Indonesia,” Anies said after signing registration documents and presenting his policy platform to the poll body.

“The main idea is we are bringing changes that will lead to equality and justice,” he said, promising to lower the cost of staple foods, improve welfare for farmers and fishermen, and offer better education and healthcare access.

Anies, who is trailing in opinion polls, is running with Muhaimin Iskandar, known as Cak Imin, head of the country’s biggest Islamic party, PKB.

The party has ties with Nahdlatul Ulama, a moderate Islamic organisation of roughly 40 million members.

Ganjar’s camp has also signalled he will register on Thursday, when a seven-day window opens to join the five-yearly contest.

Opinion polls show Ganjar neck-and-neck with Prabowo, who is making a third run at the presidency having lost to Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, in 2014 and 2019.

Candidates will be also be confirming their running mates for the election, ending months of speculation and political manoeuvring aimed at shoring up alliances and making inroads into new voter territory.

Ganjar, the presidential pick of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), will be joined on his ticket by respected former judge and current chief security minister Mahfud MD.

Former special forces commander Prabowo has yet to announce his vice presidential running mate, an issue that has dominated headlines in recent days amid speculation he will be joined by the president’s 36-year-old son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

Gibran’s potential run would be controversial after outrage this week over a ruling by the Constitutional Court that a minimum age of 40 need not apply to candidates if they have won a regional election.

Jokowi said this week he had no involvement in presidential candidates, but political insiders have said the outgoing leader is seeking to retain influence and has been covertly marshalling support for Prabowo, having earlier appeared to have backed Ganjar, the candidate of his PDI-P party. (This story has been refiled to correct the typographical error in Islamic group’s name in paragraph 8)