Is the Malaysian Cabinet intellectually challenged: 6 tips for Najib & Co

The post Bersih 2.0 and now the 3.0 are still blowing in the sand and into the eyes of the politicians. And the storms are yet to die down as long as the politicians keep failing in their public relations.

To begin with, the Bersih events were spiraled into a crisis stage thanks to the politicians from the BN camp. That was their first failure in public relations.

Next, their responses – both knee jerk press statements and seemingly strategic ploys are only keeping the post Bersih crisis protracted and apparently creating potential mini-crises within the crisis. This again reflects a failure to understand the potent power and the management of public relations.

So, here are some tips for free. Why pay APCO.

Rule 1: A crisis does not happen ‘suddenly’. It results from prolonged neglect or ignoring of brewing issues.

Yes, the BN politicians had all the lead advantage to keep ahead of the issues that kept surfacing over months. They even had the benefit of Bersih 2.0 that could have been translated and recognized as an issue; and by managing that issue they could have averted Bersih 3.0.

Rule 2: A crisis need not be a liability. It can be turned into an opportunity provided there is a clear intent to make amends on a timely and believable basis.

And BN politicians failed to seize upon the Bersih 3.0 opportunities as it unfolded on the morning of the 28 April. There was no evident intent on the leaders’ part to spot the opportunities. On the contrary there was every attempt to turn the assembly into a seemingly monstrous threat on BN. We witnessed far too many spokesperson drumming different beats and this entrenched the crisis further.

Rule 3: The earlier you pin a crisis down, the sooner you will be on the route to repair, amend and build bridges.

Unfortunately, despite almost forty days since Bersih 3.0, the effort to repair, amend, and build bridges is nowhere in sight. Instead, the BN politicians keep shooting themselves in the foot with each passing day’s statement and denials, actions and inactions.

Rule 4: The longer you take to address a post-crisis situation and fail to ride on the opportunities that can rise from the ashes, the chances are you will only be sowing the seeds of yet another crisis within a crisis.

BN politicians are far too slow to learn from the inventory of world examples of post crisis management. And in doing so they are only sowing many seeds of potential crises that will eventually surface over protracted time.

Rule 5: Badly managed crisis communication will leave a dent so deep on your armor that it will take a long time and huge efforts to rectify the damaged reputation.

So that is the price that BN is forced to pay owing to the silly of politicians who are not knowledgeable in dealing with crises. Crisis communication in itself requires that certain separate set of rules are followed and not compromised.

It is most unforgivable, that despite having the entire main stream media tied to its apron, the BN political chefs and captains are unable to use post crisis communication to their optimal advantage.

Rule 6: In any crisis, honesty is a premium. It cannot be compromised or sidelined.

And this is one other rule that BN politicians are always failing to keep. Or even when they do try to keep, public opinion remains suspect for their effort would have been a little tart too late. And blaming your opponents for this eventuality only makes the situation more complicated.

J. D. Lovrenciear reads Malaysia Chronicle