Mega: When being right does not matter

Ong Hock Chuan, Technical Advisor, Maverick, Jakarta

If there is any proof needed that leadership is a thankless task, we need look no further than the flak President Megawati Soekarnoputri's government is getting over its decision to withdraw subsidies on fuel prices and utility charges.

Here you have a government that has finally demonstrated resolve and courage in taking a right, but unpopular, move. Yet instead of being supported, thanked and maybe praised it is being universally condemned and abandoned by faint-hearted House of Representative members out to save their own skins.

The protests are mounting and the criticisms are getting louder from every quarter. It is unfair, but the government and Megawati must also realize that it is a problem they have brought about on themselves because of their paltry communications skills. It is a situation they can avoid, and can still change, if they merely observed some basic principles of communications.

One of them is that people can get used to most things within a short space of time. However, if surprised, people often react adversely. In a position to control the timing of the subsidy withdrawals, Megawati's government should have used the month leading up to its announcement to condition Indonesians to the idea of price hikes.

This is known as "softening the ground" among some political communicators. How governments have done it is to selectively "leak" stories to the media on the impending price a hike. Often these leaks paint a grimmer picture than the actual announcement. The principle here is that a public that is braced for, say, a 15 percent price hike will greet an announcement of a 10 percent price hike with relief rather than anger. In the language of persuasion this is known as "occupying the extremes" so that anything that comes in between looks reasonable.

The other communications principle that Megawati and her government seems to have ignored is that it is not enough to have accurate messages; you have also to deliver the messages accurately if you want the public to understand you and win the image war that your critics are sure to wage once you announce such an important move.

In this instance Megawati has shaped accurate messages, as evidenced in her speech at the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI Perjuangan) 30th anniversary gathering in Bali on Sunday. There, she articulated the necessity of the government's decision to withdraw subsidies even though it was unpopular: It was the only way that Indonesia can progress without being eternally in debt.

That Indonesia cannot go on sustaining itself from the money derived from excessive exploitation of its natural resources. That it was good for the economy in the long run. That Indonesians must go through this period of belt tightening if it is to emerge stronger.

The delivery of the message, however, was anything but effective and these well-articulated messages have been neglected or forgotten in the crescendo of protests and criticisms against her and her government. Megawati should realize that the only way she could hope to get her message across is to have her and designated spokespeople repeat these messages at every opportunity.

People, especially those in high positions, tend to make the mistake that the public is entirely rational and diligent about what they have said. The truth cannot be further. Most people register only impressions of an event. Mostly they do not remember the details or the argument. The only way to ensure that they begin to understand her message is for her and her Cabinet members to take every opportunity to reinforce the messages she delivered in Bali.

That is why the most successful politicians conduct road shows and tours across the nation when they want to rally people to a cause or to "socialize" an initiative that is not popular. And in such socialization keeping message discipline is important or it will cause confusion.

Within Megawati's own party, for instance, its faction leader in the House of Representatives Roy Janis has said that the party opposes the price hikes, but its deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung has said that it supports the price hikes, so long as they do not impact on transport charges. Mixed messages like these give an impression that the powers that be are anything but united or resolved. It is not democracy. It is internal confusion spilling out to the public.

The other principle that Megawati should observe is that what she, her husband Taufik Kiemas, and her Cabinet ministers do at all times is as important as what they say. The public always scrutinizes every move of its leaders. Actions often speak louder than words. In this instance her words to the nation are to willingly sacrifice and tighten its belt for the good of Indonesia. Yet their actions speak the opposite. Her husband's big and lavish birthday bash coming so close to the announcement of price hikes and at the same island of her speech gives people an impression of hypocrisy.

Throughout history peoples have shown themselves willing to walk through fire for leaders who share their burden. They have also shown that they would not follow any leader they perceive as unsympathetic and insensitive to their problems and suffering, let alone leaders who fiddle while their livelihoods are scorched by the impact of fuel price and utility fee hikes.

Megawati has done a brave and right thing by deciding to withdraw the subsidies. She deserves plaudits rather than brickbats. She can still turn around the situation by communicating to the people to win their hearts and minds. But to do this she has to realize that her biggest obstacle to success is her own indifference.

Maverick is a communications consultancy specializing in brand strategy and crisis and issues management.