One of the most commented topics these days in the international public sphere is attendance at a couple of parties for the English Prime Minister, Boris Johnson in the midst of the confinement that he himself had scheduled due to the numerous cases of COVID.
While England was going through the worst wave of the pandemic, the sacrifices that were asked of the population were carried out laxly from 10 Downing Street, the official seat of the Prime Minister.
Before starting with this analysis, the phrase that the actor Michael Douglas expresses in the film American President comes to mind, during a press conference that he cites to air the solutions to a government crisis and that frames in fiction, the harsh reality that Boris Johnson now lives.
Douglas says: ¨Our country is going through serious problems and to solve them we need serious people¨… Should something be added to this forceful phrase?
Global society in general, and especially its young people, are demanding mature leadership and exemplary behavior from governments. They visualize a trustworthy and capable character to lead that new policy that they want.
If we are clear about something, after two years of the pandemic, it is that we do not need experiments, we require realities. The case of the English prime minister exudes irresponsibility and projects a lack of management in front of his electorate.
The interest of the media in cases like this is logically due to the importance of the presidential institution or the parliament since they represent the fundamental objective of the competition for power.
Undoubtedly, the good and outstanding rulers, aware of the above, design their administration in their own particular style, but knowing that they must be working as if they were in a permanent campaign for a good image, popularity and efficiency.
There is no other conception of being and doing good government.
The objective of the presidential communication to establish contact with the citizen, through the media, follows two strategies: BYPASSING and ATTRACTING.
The foregoing is an art, since a government official, I remember now Ronald Reagan, must conduct himself with the skill of a good PR and detect when to use one or the other.
Avoiding, we translate it as avoiding the media in the most difficult moments until not designing a good strategy that shows you a relevant solution. Attracting each other, meanwhile, drives us to seek an alliance with them in search of resolving the crisis.
However, very far from the above was the route that Johnson decided to follow and given the barrage of criticism about this partygate, he hastily declared that his country will withdraw the mandatory use of face masks and the home office, adding that scientists believed that the wave of the Omicron variant had peaked in the British Isle.
Unfocused strategy.
The declaration is perceived more as the establishment of a smoke screen to avoid his dismissal and is not at any time a political response to the circumstances and based on the care of public health.
Everything communicates dear readers; careful with the details.