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| DPP spokesperson, Nicholas Dausi |
The
recent statement that DPP’s spokesperson Nicholas Dausi gave to the Daily Times
clearly signifies the party is not capable of mending its tattered public image
with regard to intolerance towards dissenting views.
The
July 18th 2012 edition of the Daily Times reported that police
had the previous day arrested some DPP youths suspected of roaming the streets
of Blantyre brandishing pangas, chanting ‘war’ songs on July 19th 2011.
That was aimed at scaring Malawians into refraining from anti-government
demonstrations that had been planned for the following day.
Reacting
to the news, Mr Dausi told the paper the arrests were ‘politically motivated’. My
foot! I almost fainted upon reading this careless and unbridled overused
political cliché.
As
a side bar - Of course the police have their own Public Relations problems to
grapple with when one considers the question: Why effect the arrests now, not
when the DPP was in power? However, that is a question that deserves a page of
its own.
Communications
strategists would advise the DPP that a public or media statement reveals what the
originator of the message believes in, even if the revelation may not have been
intended. That’s the reality of communication.
If
the DPP does not know, here is what its spokesperson’s condemnation of the
arrests of the panga-wielding party youths actually means: The party sees
nothing wrong with its membership using threats of violence against dissenting
voice. It means the DPP still believes there is room for intimidation in a
democracy. That scares!
Public
Relations strategists would tell the DPP that if this is the type of message
that is sent to the masses, it will be so easy for potential voters to foresee
Malawi under fire much hotter than was experienced in the past
three years if the party is given power to govern again. The party knows very
well what that means in the ballot booth.
DPP’s
governor for the South Mr Noel Masangwi’s confession – after Joyce Banda’s rise
to the presidency in April 2012 - that
the party had messed up big time when it was in power was an excellent starting
point for a renewed Public Relations effort to win back people’s confidence in
the former ruling party.
Communications
strategists would advise the DPP that in order to be effective, a Public
Relations statement does not always have to defend just everything, including
lawlessness. Instead of being defensive, an organisation with a sound PR policy
in place creatively engages its publics in order to get out of any mess with
minimal injury.
With
that in mind, the DPP would realise that as long as there are legal
grounds for arrests in connection with the panga wielding gaffe, there is not
even a single Public Relations point to be scored by defending the party’s
youths who conducted themselves with a ‘we-are-above-the-law’ attitude. Any sort
of defense in this regard is suicidal.
The good news, though, is: an
organisation’s public image can change, so can the DPP’s, only if the party engages
an image overhauling strategy, now, not later. The DPP, however, should
realise it cannot afford to do without a team of Strategic Public
Relations barons who can help scrub the stains off the party's image.
_________________________
Source of report on the
arrest of the panga wielding youths:
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