Mega: When being right does not matter<\/p>\n
Ong Hock Chuan, Technical Advisor, Maverick, Jakarta<\/p>\n
If there is any proof needed that leadership is a thankless
\ntask, we need look no further than the flak President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri's government is getting over its decision to
\nwithdraw subsidies on fuel prices and utility charges.<\/p>\n
Here you have a government that has finally demonstrated
\nresolve and courage in taking a right, but unpopular, move. Yet
\ninstead of being supported, thanked and maybe praised it is being
\nuniversally condemned and abandoned by faint-hearted House of
\nRepresentative members out to save their own skins.<\/p>\n
The protests are mounting and the criticisms are getting
\nlouder from every quarter. It is unfair, but the government and
\nMegawati must also realize that it is a problem they have brought
\nabout on themselves because of their paltry communications
\nskills. It is a situation they can avoid, and can still change,
\nif they merely observed some basic principles of communications.<\/p>\n
One of them is that people can get used to most things within
\na short space of time. However, if surprised, people often react
\nadversely. In a position to control the timing of the subsidy
\nwithdrawals, Megawati's government should have used the month
\nleading up to its announcement to condition Indonesians to the
\nidea of price hikes.<\/p>\n
This is known as \"softening the ground\" among some political
\ncommunicators. How governments have done it is to selectively
\n\"leak\" stories to the media on the impending price a hike. Often
\nthese leaks paint a grimmer picture than the actual announcement.
\nThe principle here is that a public that is braced for, say, a 15
\npercent price hike will greet an announcement of a 10 percent
\nprice hike with relief rather than anger. In the language of
\npersuasion this is known as \"occupying the extremes\" so that
\nanything that comes in between looks reasonable.<\/p>\n
The other communications principle that Megawati and her
\ngovernment seems to have ignored is that it is not enough to have
\naccurate messages; you have also to deliver the messages
\naccurately if you want the public to understand you and win the
\nimage war that your critics are sure to wage once you announce
\nsuch an important move.<\/p>\n
In this instance Megawati has shaped accurate messages, as
\nevidenced in her speech at the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle's (PDI Perjuangan) 30th anniversary gathering in Bali on
\nSunday. There, she articulated the necessity of the government's
\ndecision to withdraw subsidies even though it was unpopular: It
\nwas the only way that Indonesia can progress without being
\neternally in debt.<\/p>\n
That Indonesia cannot go on sustaining itself from the money
\nderived from excessive exploitation of its natural resources.
\nThat it was good for the economy in the long run. That
\nIndonesians must go through this period of belt tightening if it
\nis to emerge stronger.<\/p>\n
The delivery of the message, however, was anything but
\neffective and these well-articulated messages have been neglected
\nor forgotten in the crescendo of protests and criticisms against
\nher and her government. Megawati should realize that the only way
\nshe could hope to get her message across is to have her and
\ndesignated spokespeople repeat these messages at every
\nopportunity.<\/p>\n
People, especially those in high positions, tend to make the
\nmistake that the public is entirely rational and diligent about
\nwhat they have said. The truth cannot be further. Most people
\nregister only impressions of an event. Mostly they do not
\nremember the details or the argument. The only way to ensure that
\nthey begin to understand her message is for her and her Cabinet
\nmembers to take every opportunity to reinforce the messages she
\ndelivered in Bali.<\/p>\n
That is why the most successful politicians conduct road shows
\nand tours across the nation when they want to rally people to a
\ncause or to \"socialize\" an initiative that is not popular. And in
\nsuch socialization keeping message discipline is important or it
\nwill cause confusion.<\/p>\n
Within Megawati's own party, for instance, its faction leader
\nin the House of Representatives Roy Janis has said that the party
\nopposes the price hikes, but its deputy secretary-general Pramono
\nAnung has said that it supports the price hikes, so long as they
\ndo not impact on transport charges. Mixed messages like these
\ngive an impression that the powers that be are anything but
\nunited or resolved. It is not democracy. It is internal confusion
\nspilling out to the public.<\/p>\n
The other principle that Megawati should observe is that what
\nshe, her husband Taufik Kiemas, and her Cabinet ministers do at
\nall times is as important as what they say. The public always
\nscrutinizes every move of its leaders. Actions often speak louder
\nthan words. In this instance her words to the nation are to
\nwillingly sacrifice and tighten its belt for the good of
\nIndonesia. Yet their actions speak the opposite. Her husband's
\nbig and lavish birthday bash coming so close to the announcement
\nof price hikes and at the same island of her speech gives people
\nan impression of hypocrisy.<\/p>\n
Throughout history peoples have shown themselves willing to
\nwalk through fire for leaders who share their burden. They have
\nalso shown that they would not follow any leader they perceive as
\nunsympathetic and insensitive to their problems and suffering,
\nlet alone leaders who fiddle while their livelihoods are scorched
\nby the impact of fuel price and utility fee hikes.<\/p>\n
Megawati has done a brave and right thing by deciding to
\nwithdraw the subsidies. She deserves plaudits rather than
\nbrickbats. She can still turn around the situation by
\ncommunicating to the people to win their hearts and minds. But to
\ndo this she has to realize that her biggest obstacle to success
\nis her own indifference.<\/p>\n
Maverick is a communications consultancy specializing in brand
\nstrategy and crisis and issues management.<\/p>",
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