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resh from their impressive performance in the first televised debate on Monday, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) presidential candidate Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and his running mate Jusuf Kalla visited Medan and Banda Aceh respectively on Tuesday, while their rival, the Gerindra Party'€™s Prabowo Subianto, suffered logistical problems in his effort to reach supporters.

Prabowo canceled his appearance in an outdoor campaign rally in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, due to the weather.

Bad weather prevented Prabowo and his entourage, which included the self-styled '€œking of dangdut'€ Rhoma Irama, from arriving by helicopter.

Due to a heavy rain, Prabowo also canceled a meeting with representatives from labor unions and small business owners in the area.

'€œIt'€™s only a technical difficulty. The plan was for him to fly from there [Jakarta] at 3:15 p.m. and arrive here at 3:30 p.m.,'€ Prabowo'€™s campaign team director Emron Pangkapi said. '€œBut the rain was so heavy in Jakarta, he had to cancel for safety reasons.'€

As for Jokowi, the front-runner, he immediately left Balai Sarbini in Central Jakarta, where the first presidential debate was held, and went straight to Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta to catch a chartered flight to Medan.

Jokowi arrived in Medan at 1:30 a.m. and hit the road again at 6 a.m. to visit shelters for local residents displaced by the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Brastagi, a two-hour drive from Medan.

In his speech delivered to hundreds of his supporters at a displacement camp in a Batak Karo Protestant Klasis Church (GBKP), Jokowi cracked a joke about his tired look.

'€œLast night the debate finished at 11 p.m. I arrived in Medan at 2:30 a.m. and at 6 a.m. I had to be ready to leave [and campaign]. So if you see my sleep-deprived face, it'€™s because I haven'€™t slept much. But my face still looks bright right? Thank God,'€ he said.

Jokowi said he had wanted to visit Sinabung.

'€œI have been wanting to come here but have not been able to do so because of my position. I am still the Jakarta governor,'€ he said.

After his trip to Sinabung, Jokowi continued by visiting Hermes Palace shopping mall in Medan and a fisherman village in Nelayan Indah village, Medan Labuhan subdistrict.

Jokowi'€™s presidential campaign team secretary Andi Widjajanto said Jokowi insisted on visiting Medan because he wanted to give undivided attention to all regions in the country, regardless of their electoral impact.

Andi said both North Sumatra and Papua, the latter of which Jokowi visited last week, bore no significant electoral impact on the July 9 election since Papua was a province with a small population and North Sumatra was where the PDI-P made impressive gains in the April 9 legislative legislative election.

Kalla'€™s trip to Aceh was also rich in symbolism, Andi said.

'€œAceh and Papua, Sabang and Merauke are both in conflict-ridden regions. Therefore, we have to embrace them,'€ he said.

Andi, who until recently was known as a military analyst, said Jokowi would face a real campaign battle on Wednesday when he began campaigning in Banten.

Meanwhile, a public opinion poll conducted by the United Data Center (PDB) found that Jokowi'€™s electability stood at 32.2 percent while Prabowo'€™s electability hovered at 26.5 percent, only a 5.7 percent difference.

'€œThe competition will heat up until the last day of the campaign period,'€ PDB researcher Agus Herta.

For the survey, the PDB interviewed 2,688 respondents all from middle class backgrounds in Medan, Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Balikpapan and also Makassar.

The survey wrapped up on June 1, one week before the first televised presidential debate. (put)