Crisis can remake Najib or finally undo him

He can lead like Thaksin during the 2004 tsunami or fumble like Bush Jr with Hurricane Katrina.

COMMENT

Disasters can define a leader. Whether they stay hidden in their palaces or get down to the ground to show leadership and provide inspiration during relief efforts can change public perception in an instant, and the current floods on the East Coast could come to define the rest of Najib Abdul Razak’s tenure as Prime Minister of Malaysia.

In all fairness to Najib, he could not have foreseen the severity of the floods, and they came at a time when he was given the opportunity to join US President Barack Obama in his Christmas holiday, an opportunity many leaders would have jumped at. However, a picture showing him happily golfing with the world’s most powerful leader at a time when his people are suffering has led to a public backlash, and from this point on the people will heavily scrutinise his moves in handling the crisis.

Najib is back on Malaysian soil to take charge of relief and rescue efforts, but many see this as a move made in panic after Deputy Prime Minister Muyhiddin Yassin decided to spearhead government arms to handle the crisis.

Najib’s every word and movement will be news, and anything less than capable, compassionate, and competent handling of the situation could be disastrous for the already besieged leader. History will record this, and Najib could stand to learn from two leaders and how they handled similar crises in their countries.

During the 2004 tsunami that hit some of Thailand’s most popular tourist spots, the then Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, took decisive action immediately. He was on the ground post-haste, showing sympathy to the victims and promising government aid to the affected. He seemed to single handedly coordinate relief efforts, and even turned away foreign help, declaring that the Thais would take care of their own. It was the magnum opus of his reign, and despite the controversy of his last years in office, Thaksin remains extremely popular with the rural folk.

Lasting impression

Thaksin’s efforts paid off when his party, Thai Rak Thai, swept the next elections. He and his party had come under fire in the months before for their heavy-handed, autocratic approach to governance, but after he showed compassion and competence in the interest of his suffering people, the anti-Thaksin sentiment all but ground to a halt and in its place was something almost like reverence. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Thaksin’s ability to manage the tsunami crisis left a lasting impression on his countrymen and saved his position as Prime Minister.

At the other other end of the spectrum stands former US President George W. Bush. He came from a prominent, powerful family. His father, George Bush Sr, was a well-respected former president himself, and surely it was expected that such a leader would have groomed his son to be decisive and capable. However, Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it wreaked on New Orleans became the undoing of Bush Jr. He was much maligned in many circles, adding to the hatred already held against him for his strong-arm approach to spreading democracy throughout the world.

The Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina was criticized for being plagued with mismanagement and the government stood accused of having been unprepared to deal with the disaster. Bush’s slow, almost slothful response to the crisis became a glaring black mark on his presidency.

Bush did not return to Washington until more than a full day after the hurricane hit as he was vacationing in Texas at the time. His administration, attempting to minimize the PR damage, showed a photo of him looking out the window of Air Force One while it flew over New Orleans on the way back to Washington – a lonely figure in a opulent seat, seemingly lost in thought at the devastation. But it had an effect that was opposite to what was intended by his PR operation. Heaps of scorn were poured on the photo.

Out of touch

Bush attempted to handle the situation by remote control, believing he would usurp the power of the local authorities if the federal government intervened, even as reel after reel of footage showed his people desperately in need and the local government severely overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the devastation. Whether it was right or not, this gave the impression that the President cared little for the people, and fluffy statements like praise for the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency made it seem like Bush was out of touch, and worse, incompetent.

His lack of presence on the ground immediately after the disaster only served to drive the wedge further between Bush and the rest of America, and till today the scars of Katrina haunt Bush, seen in his attempt to rewrite history in his Presidential Library.

Najib cannot afford to manage this crisis by remote control. He must be on the ground, helping in whatever ways he can to spur on the relief efforts, making decisive decisions on how best to not only salvage the situation, but also to prevent future crises. He must show the people not only that he cares, but that he is competent. Anything less will show him to be like Bush, so out of touch that the people will hate and revile him for it.

Our Prime Minister has an opportunity to show himself as leadership material in the handling of this crisis. His feet must hit the ground, and he must show himself and his administration as selfless despite ideological differences, especially in PAS-held Kelantan. If he fails to do so, the East Coast floods will be Najib’s Katrina.