Indonesia's parliamentary elections begin

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesians headed to the polls Thursday to choose legislators for the world's most populous Muslim nation, a vote that will also determine which parties can field candidates for July's presidential election.
A woman shows her finger after voting at a polling booth on Thursday in Jakarta.

A woman shows her finger after voting at a polling booth on Thursday in Jakarta.
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By noon, the balloting was proceeding peacefully. However, the country's Papua province was hit by violence early Thursday, when about 80 separatist rebels, armed with machetes and firearms, attacked a police station and burned down part of a university, police said.

Both incidents happened in Jayapura in Papua, where a separatist movement has simmered for years.

Thursday's vote is only the second direct election since the authoritarian regime of Suharto fell in 1998, in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.

Some 12,000 candidates from 38 parties are vying for parliament's 700 seats in a nation that for now is a largely moderate and democratic one.

Some analysts have pointed to signs that indicate Indonesia is on the path to becoming a conservative and fundamentalist nation. But Islamist parties are not expected to fare well this time around, partly because most voters are more concerned about economic issues, rather than religious or moral ones