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Friday March 29, 2024

Promotion of vision not vendetta

By Akram Shaheedi
November 19, 2018

The government of PTI is getting closer to the completion of 100 days of its governance, but it seems it is not getting anywhere in terms of providing relief to the people so eloquently promised by the leadership before the elections. Chairman Bilawal Bhutto while addressing big public rally in Gilgit on last Sunday said that the PTI government was devoid of the requisite vision and political maturity to solve the problems of the people, adding it had taken more than one hundred U turns during the first one hundred days of its government.

The general perception of the incumbent government may not be positive due to the price hike of consumer goods of daily use attributed to increased tariff on gas, electricity and petroleum products necessitated to reduce fiscal deficit.

The people’s electoral opprobrium of the ruling party candidates was evident in the recently held by-elections giving clear message to the mandarins that the comfort level of the people was on the downward spiral that might accelerate if the corrective measures were not taken.

The general feelings of the government as being clueless had been flying thick and fast and its hanging on might lead to double jeopardy for the country to the collective disappointment of the people.

The media management of the government is also lagging behind in the damage control exercise that normally should spring into action to fill the gap by flooding the morale boosting stories to the media in subtle manners.

Role of government’s spokesman is absolutely important warranting the projection and defence of government policies among the people in acceptable manners through the use of media and myriad means of communication.

He is also eyes and ears of the government. His pivotal role cannot be underestimated in view of the exigencies of maintaining and promoting the good image of the government in a political society.

His successful endeavours may enhance the political capital of the government considerably also depending on the quality of governance and its prolific showcasing as such. His role assume added significance in a democratic dispensation because the continuity of the democratic government also hinges on the positive perception of the government for which the spokesman’s robust outreach may make qualitative difference to tilt the balance in favour of the government as a final straw.

Good image of the government my surely get positive response of the people in equal terms as a quid pro quo. However, building of good image may not be possible in isolation. Good governance in concrete terms is the sine qua non to build edifice of goodwill favourably inclined to the government.

A spokesman is required to be a highly learned person who fully understands the intricacies of the job, also well versed with the policies of the government, and more importantly perfectly understands the mind of the top leadership and its vision harmonising with the overall goals and objectives of the government both in short and long terms. His sense of proportion should be second to none with the mastery of separating the facts from fiction as he has to face such complex situations quite often while projecting or defending the policies of the government.

The job of spokesman has become highly specialised and demanding with the information explosion, and keeping the track of such media is difficult if not impossible. However, an intelligent and sharp spokesman may use these tools to the advantage of the government instead of resorting to the fiddling with the same like a bad workman.

An inexperienced spokesman normally tends to be carried away at the instigations of the opponents and thus may prove liability than an asset due to his inaptitude and want of requisite temperament.

The lack of experience my cause damage to the government in the shape of tarnishing its image. His subsequent whimsical damage control exercise may be like a leap in the dark resulting in more embarrassment.

His mishandling of an event may spoil the good work of the government as a negative event generally draws attention of media driven by the considerations of ‘breaking news’ and ‘approval rating’.

Undoubtedly, the PR’s inflictions are indeed deep those may continue to hunt the government for many months if not during the entire tenure of the office.

The PR success, on the other hand, may prove as an insurance policy for the government in the completion of the tenure without facing much hue and cry from the other side of the equation that may be perceived in the case as signifying nothing in the context of the legitimacy of the government of the day.

The credibility of the spokesperson should also be above board that could prove very helpful in building the image of the government.

In the recent context, however, the kidnapping of senior police officer Tahir Dawar, from Islamabad during the day, and the banning of government minister’s entry in the Senate by the chairman Senate may be listed in the category of PR conundrums.

The media advisor to the Prime Minister not only out rightly denied the kidnapping of the police officer but also asserted that he was safe and sound in Peshawar whereas he had already been kidnapped from Islamabad.

The question that immediately agitated the mind was as why the media advisor had to respond to the media query on such a sensitive matter when he was totally unaware of the facts.

It spoke volume of his poor professional judgment that caused huge embarrassment to the government and indeed to the prime minister as he was working for him. It was a blunder of the media advisor that could not be expected of a functionary of the level of advisor to the Prime Minister. No wonder it was widely discussed in the media.

The other PR bumbling was the untoward scenes at the Senate reflecting the inappropriate conduct of couple of senators of the treasury benches in particular.

The media had been according prominent and front page display in the print media whereas the electronic media had been running a cascade of breaking news projecting exchange of barbs between the treasury benches and the Opposition at the floor of the House in which the government spokesman was leading, and the Opposition side was also paying back the compliments in equal ferocity.

The tone and tenor of the government spokesman against the Opposition leadership was rather bordering on unparliamentarily limits thereby forcing the chairman Senate to give ruling banning the entry of the government spokesman to the House till he tendered unconditional apology for his unbecoming conduct in the House.

The combined Opposition also made it clear that it would not participate in the House proceedings with his attendance till the government spokesman/minister did not tender his unconditional apology.

The government’s spokesman/minister instead of considering creating an enabling environment in the Senate claimed that the matter was brought to the notice of the prime minister during the cabinet meeting who was supportive of him.

But his assertion that the prime minister was on board and supported him was too serious because the matter, according to another minister, was not discussed in the Cabinet meeting at all.

This was precisely stated by another federal minister in his media talks who was present in the cabinet meeting the government spokesman/minister was referring to. The government spokesman owed an immediate explanation that should be handed out because his credibility was at stake. The minister my clear the doubts because it cast aspersions on his persona.

Minister of State for Interior, Shehryar Afridi ,was also not impressive while giving policy statement in the Senate on the kidnapping of the Senior Police Officer and his gruesome murder in Afghanistan.

His attempt to rescue the government by shifting the responsibility of the kidnapping of the police officer was quite disproportionate as he highlighted the non-functioning of Safe-City security cameras instead of giving comprehensive account of the kidnapping and fixing the responsibility.

People are indeed in state of acute pain and shock wondering as when the occurrences of such blood freezing incidents would stop in this country. Pakistan is the victim of the blowback of Afghanistan precarious situation. How long people will continue to experience the series of such horrific incidents of terrorism due to the lingering frayed relations between two Muslim countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Merely playing to the gallery may not serve the purpose of any country and the people will continue to suffer due to the resultant belligerence as the leadership of two countries was seemingly dominated with the narrative of tunnel vision.

Let us hope and pray that better sense may prevail upon the policy makers of the two countries so that the murders like of the Police Officer, Tahir Dawar, can be brought to justice without fail.

muhmmadshheedi@yahoo.com