NAJIB, YOU'RE A PM NOT A BLOGGER: THE 'RPK' HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN FOR SOME BUT STRAIGHT ROAD TO HELL FOR OTHERS

Part of the reason 1MDB finds itself in a trial by media is due to the misleading picture they attempt to pain when they issue media statements.

Rather than convince people, on the contrary, these statements serve to antagonise social media practitioners because they frequently portray half of the picture and not the full story.

1MDB and the prime minister as its adviser should take a hard look at the ridiculous way they have attempted to prosecute this “media war”.

In a recent survey by the Merdeka Center, the prime minister’s disapproval rating was at an eye-popping 70% among the Malays.

The results of the survey also revealed Malays also blamed 1MDB for the collapse in the ringgit and the economic woes.

The Conference of Rulers had also made the unprecedented step of decreeing to speed up the investigations into 1MDB and to prosecute those suspected of wrong doing.

These are statements and opinions echoed by those who are almost always pro-government in their outlook.

It seems that between January and October 2015, 1MDB has managed to turn supporters of the government into detractors.

This also indicates a plain lack of credibility that the public have towards those arguing the case of 1MDB.

Now, the public is used to politicians talking rubbish but they are bewildered when professionally run organisations like 1MDB are willing to waste their credibility by coming out with statements which are easily debunked or rejected.

Sometimes it would be better just to keep quiet.

The 'RPK' strategy

Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s media advisors have made a big mistake in adopting the "RPK" media strategy of “out-shouting” your detractor. This is because RPK's strategy is premised on the party being the “challenger” and fighting a guerrilla media war. RPK has never had any experience crafting media strategy as part of the establishment.

They key is that this is an asymmetric game. The challenger will shout for all he cares but the government/establishment must wait and issue statements sparingly.

Statements should also be factual and roughly complete, and not appear to be giving only one side of the story. This is because they have time on their hands and can choose when to win the argument by revealing a new or positive development.

Take for example 1MDB’s press statement dated October 18, 2015, which was directed at answering Tony Pua’s allegations.

Number one, they need not do it.  They lose their aura engaging politicians. 1MDB is supposed to solve their problems through financial and economic means, not fight with Tun Dr Mahathir, Tan Sri Muhiyiddin Yassin, Tan Sri Zeti Aziz and Tony Pua.

The bar actually is set very low. The Malays have not really objected to the sale of TRX and Bandar Malaysia land, which was originally reserved for Bumiputera development.

If they focused on the task at hand and not attempt to play politics, perhaps they would not be universally despised as they are now.

Number two, when they waxed eloquent about how the entire US$2.33 billion investment in PetroSaudi was redeemed, they failed to mention how much of the redemption amount ended up in the hands of Aabar as compensation for the termination of the options on Edra.

My conservative estimate is between RM5 and RM6 billion, which is comparable in amount to almost all of the proceeds received from Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah's “units”.

Thus, mentioning about the US$1 billion received from IPIC on the residual units as of May 2015, without mentioning that the entire amount was then used to repay a loan taken to pay Aabar in the first place, is yet another example of their “half-baked” approach which wastes their aura and loses credibility.

When they waste their aura, then they lose their credibility. When they lose their credibility, the public will believe the counter allegations because invariably those allegations are backed by some facts or evidence.

That is why 1MDB finds itself the target of an attack by social media.

As the police chief once famously said, “If you ask for it, you will get it.” – TMI