Political Communication and Managing Crisis:

Program Director Communication Bureau, Wanita UMNO Malaysia

• Around the world, demographics, technology and development are redrawing the political landscapes.

• Malaysian populations: more urbanized, more affluent and more connected.

• Government now is facing complex, often global problems: The public trust in the government is collapsing and now it is confronting a similar challenge around the world.

• How to keep the politics relevant? • How to keep people engaged in the democratic

process?

Two Parts: • How political communication change in the era

of global connectivity in the lights of our recent election?

• Crisis of confidence: How do the government plan to manage it?

What is Political Communication?

Starting point: Aristotle’s “Rhetoric & Politics” written in 350 B.C.

Political messages have been noted, dissected and speculated for…

Well… 2000 years.

It’s all about Messages! Construction, sending, receiving, and processing

messages that potentially have a direct impact or indirect impacts on politics.

Who is the message sender?

Key Element:

“The message has a significant political effect on the thinking, beliefs, and behavior of individual, group, institution, and whole societies and the

environment in which they exist”.

Political Communication and Agenda Setting

Process by which the news media shows to the public what is important by giving more salient

to certain event and issues over other. “The Highlighting Process”

• Role of Political Communication in Agenda Setting • In Malaysia, the traditional media are heavily

restricted. This is where the highlighting process occurred.

• Malaysian citizens have acquired new technology. • Internet: Freedom that have been restrictive in

comparison to traditional media • Internet: Campaign poster of unknown dimension

21-30 yr old

Online MediaTVNewspaper

2008 Zentrum Future Studies and 3500 respondent between 21-50 proves the strong growing influence of the new media.

31-40 yr old

Online MediaTVNewspaper

Understanding Malaysian Political Scenario

• 2008: Party that belonged to the government did not recognize the growing of social media.

• Internet helped the opposition score electoral success

• Former Prime Minister: “His biggest mistake was to ignore cyber campaigning over the internet.”

• 2004: Government won by landslide 90% in holding of parliamentary seats.

• So what change?

New Media 2008 vs Social Media 2013

• February 2013: Prime Minister was quoted widely in the media saying that the general election in GE2013 will be the country first “SOCIAL MEDIA ELECTION”

Is it really “Social Media Election?”

2008 Barisan Nasional -140 seats Pakatan Rakyat - 84 seats

2013

Barisan Nasional - 135 seats Pakatan Rakyat - 89 seats

• Apart from the fact that the ruling party has managed to close gap when it comes to reaching the people through social network, and all the number of likes: It’s not social media election.

• Yes. Social Media in Malaysia has change the whole spheres of political communication.

• Influential in keeping political issue in the forefront in the last 5 years.

• Ruling parties are unable to arrest the erosion of support from Malaysian Voters.

• From the result, the ruling parties realized that they are in the crisis.

Crisis and Three Significant Changes

Technology Demographic

Development

• People are more connected than ever. • Voters in Malaysia are much better informed. • How did the government reacted on this? • How about the demographic challenge? • How do we ensure sustainable development? • The major underlying issues prior to the

Election?

• Practice Open Politics: Increasing participation in the political process, embracing greater transparency and improving state of democracy within the parties, reforming internal process and distancing from money politics.

• Malaysian are peaceful people.

• Share an instinct for unity and moderation.

• Nation founded on tolerance and guided by peaceful co-existence and mutual respect.

• We are striving to join the ranks of Developed Country by 2020.