Public relations fail Golkar<\/p>\n
By Wimar Witoelar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The hottest political issue in this election is
\nthe "Mega-Bintang" phenomenon, the voter coalition between the
\nUnited Development Party (PPP) and supporters of ousted
\nIndonesian Democratic party (PDI) chairwoman Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri. Many understand this to be a repudiation of
\nGolkar, judging from the types of people supporting the
\ncampaigns.<\/p>\n
Professionals, young people, independents who are far from the
\nPPP image, have seemingly turned from PDI and Golkar. They are
\nmaking the PPP campaign colorful and enthusiastic with a "people
\npower" feel. As we can be sure PPP's leadership does not have the
\ncharisma to invite such broad-based support, it seems common
\nsense to conclude people are increasingly turning from Golkar.<\/p>\n
But this may not be true. Golkar is still the only political
\ngrouping of any credibility. PPP is exclusive and not geared for
\nwhat Sarwono Kusumaatmadja's recently emphasized "national
\nperspective". PDI is an empty shell with Soerjadi pathetically
\nflailing around for the disappearing masses who have followed
\nMegawati into the political sidelines.<\/p>\n
Golkar has the experience, the people, the networks and the
\npower to manage the country. The problem is management has
\nrecently turned into mismanagement. We are still crying or
\nlaughing over the tragicomedies of the Busang fiasco, the
\nstruggling national car project, the bank robbery of private
\nbanks by their well-connected owners, and old standards like
\nairplanes traded for sticky rice, Ministry of Transportation
\ncorruption, the Golden Key scandal and various shenanigans of
\nassorted relatives and friends of people in power.<\/p>\n
Golkar has credible people and credible programs, but they do
\nnot work in real life. Their power is most effective when used
\nagainst the public good.<\/p>\n
East Java Governor Basofi Soedirman said in a campaign speech
\nlast week that Golkar had bad public relations. This statement
\nhits the nail on the head, the best statement made in this
\ncampaign so far, quite apart from the governor's own public
\nrelations.<\/p>\n
It certainly is bad public relations for the party in power to
\nsay it is for clean government, when it has been doing the
\nopposite for years.<\/p>\n
When you want to make a statement like that, at least take
\naccountability first for what went wrong. Show that you
\nunderstand the problem, that you empathize with your audience.
\nOtherwise you lose credibility, and it becomes downright funny.<\/p>\n
Take the campaign statement in today's papers, saying that
\nGolkar is for regeneration of the national leadership. What
\nregeneration?<\/p>\n
Recently writer Goenawan Muhamad coined the phrase "the
\ndeflation of meaning". Words like democracy lose their meaning
\nwhen the people shouting slogans for democracy are precisely
\nthose who are antidemocratic. The people making speeches about
\nthe evils of corruption, about greed are, in fact, the top
\npractitioners of these crimes.<\/p>\n
The other bad public relations strategy is to send campaigners
\ninto the field without proper selection. Why send out as
\ncampaigners people with clearly tarnished public records? Send
\nout people with good public and press relations, and give them
\nthe courage to admit the government's mistakes. Show people the
\ndifference between the good guys and the bad buys.<\/p>\n
While you have many excellent public-minded and honest people
\nin Golkar, they are not necessarily the ones who are in control.
\nYou have good people making very sound statements, but do you
\nreally believe these intelligent people were involved in making
\nthe incredibly bad public decisions?<\/p>\n
Japanese consultant Kenichi Ohmae says Japanese people on the
\nwhole are just average, but make good decisions. We have in
\nIndonesia some very good people in and out of high-level official
\npositions, but actual power is held by the junkies - addicts of
\npower and money.<\/p>\n
Like drug addicts, they will do anything to satisfy their
\nhabit. Like heroin junkies, they don't recognize their addiction,
\nsaying "I only take the stuff because I like it, not because I am
\naddicted".<\/p>\n
To a large extent, politics is addictive. Like true addicts,
\nmost people who have been in politics a long time feel lost
\nwithout power. They scramble to stay in place, good guys and bad,
\npeople of vision alongside people of greed. It is these junkies
\nwho are damaging Golkar's public image. They, not Golkar as such,
\nare the ones driving people into the Mega-Bintang camp or into
\napathy and indifference.<\/p>\n
What choice is there in an election, when no contestant will
\nsay who they will nominate as the next national leaders, when no
\nparty leaders present faces of the future? Golkar says, "No
\npromises, just proof". What is the proof? What is their record on
\ndemocracy, on corruption, on transportation, on education? Maybe
\nwe would be better off without their promises.<\/p>\n
The one promise that will make Golkar win the hearts of the
\npeople is to not let the junkies have free rein in running the
\ngovernment. The best public relations act for Golkar would be to
\ntake measures against government mismanagement - revoke support
\nfor cabinet ministers who have clearly neglected their ethical
\nobligations, public officials who have clearly done a disservice
\nto the President, the government and the nation.<\/p>\n
Allow people to offer their judgment of the Golkar track
\nrecord. If the people in power supported by Golkar would allow
\ndifferent viewpoints to appear on the public agenda, their public
\nimage would be better.<\/p>\n
But if every dissident gets locked up or locked out, then the
\ndifferences become sharpened and the good guys within the system
\nare degraded to being apologists for the power junkies.<\/p>\n
The good guys in Golkar often say they know the nation's
\nproblems, then they say "come to me with solutions, not
\nproblems".<\/p>\n
Well, no single person or group can come up with a solution.
\nThat is why we have a political system, so that everybody can
\ncontribute a little bit and come up with solutions together.<\/p>\n
If they don't work, try something else. If they still do not
\nwork, have someone else try. We have elections to make sure
\neverybody gets a chance at the wheel. Then "Mega-Bintang" could
\nbecome a "Mega-Bintang-Golkar" for a truly national consensus.<\/p>\n
The choice lies not with the electorate, but within the bowels
\nof the system. Make the straight guys talk back to the junkies,
\nand the elections will offer "a choice, not an echo".<\/p>\n
The writer is a communications expert based in Jakarta.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/public-relations-fail-golkar-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }