The playing up of the issue of getting a pardon for a former Premier for the last month or so is nothing more than a charade by political parties in the unity government to create and maintain the perception amongst his supporters that they are doing something to help him.
When his supporters felt that they are not alone in their support to seek for his release, they will stay resilient and loyal to the same political party. They network through word-of-mouth and it depends greatly on their perception of the actions of the present leadership.
His supporters are no different from most individuals out there.
They are more likely to share poor experiences than good ones. Once a majority of them get an idea in their heads, it is hard to change their minds.
Enough negative word-of-mouth over time will solidify their perception of the present leadership and that is no small matter when they are needed at the present time for that political party and the unity government. If they leave the wrong impression, they risk losing a significant chunk of his supporters who might switch to another political party, a competitor.
To maintain that perception, the political parties in the unity government need to develop trust amongst his army of supporters. Now, more than ever before, the present leadership of that political party must connect on the issues that the supporters of the former Premier care about.
The core of the trust is authenticity.
The degree to which his army of supporters think that the present leadership in the political party that he used to lead are really what they proclaimed themselves to be, i.e. fighting to seek the release of their past President.
Being vocal and taking action will convince his supporters to keep the present leadership and the political party.
When his army of supporters felt that the things that the present leadership in his political party is telling them things they truly believe, they would be less skeptical and would continue to support the political party under the new leadership.
It is important for the present leadership in that political party and for others in the unity government to engage visibly in the goals that the supporters for the former Premier want them to adopt. They need to engage to exhibit the highest form of authenticity - providing visible support to him to his army of supporters.
They cannot afford to ignore his supporters. The present leadership needs to give their attention to them. After all, they probably supported and voted for the present leadership in the party elections held 2 months ago.
In medical parlance, they called this the placebo effect. How placebos work is still not quite understood to-date. Even the medical community is mystified by the placebo effect.
A study published in Science Translational Medicine explored this by testing how people reacted to migraine pain medication. One group took a migraine drug labeled with the drug's name. Another took a placebo labeled "placebo". A 3rd group took nothing. The researchers discovered that the placebo was 50% as effective as the real drug to reduce pain after a migraine attack.
So, the simple act of continuously playing up the news about the former Premier seeking a pardon is to create a perception within his group of supporters - giving them the placebo effect – that the present leadership of his political party is in sync with their needs and they should continue to support the present leadership and the political party if they hope to see their needs addressed.
Even if his group of supporters knows that it might not be possible, the action itself, the level of attention by the present leadership amplified over the media, will convince them to think that something is being done to seek the former Premier’s release from prison.
This is the games that politicians played for their own survival while dithering over the rising costs of living for the ordinary rakyat.
