Don’t get dragged into a feud with Puad, analyst urges Johor BN

PETALING JAYA: Johor Barisan Nasional should focus on local issues, its election candidates, and its record of service and avoid getting dragged into a public spat with former Umno leader Puad Zarkashi, says a communications consultant.

Raziz Rashid said a feud with Puad would take the focus away from the coalition’s focus and allow Puad to become the “main character of the Johor election”.

“In crisis communications, the question is whether responding advances the campaign objective. The state campaign should return to candidates,” Raziz told FMT. Johor BN chief “Onn Hafiz Ghazi should speak about Johor, not Puad”, he said.

Puad, an Umno Supreme Council member, quit the party on Thursday. He said he could no longer remain silent over what he described as Johor Umno’s lack of autonomy in decision-making.

Puad also accused Onn Hafiz of being merely a “yes man”, who had turned Johor Umno into “a puppet bound by external control”.

Onn Hafiz has rejected Puad’s claims, while Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki alleged that Puad had threatened to quit the party and publicly criticise it if his son was not nominated for his Rengit seat in the upcoming polls.

Raziz urged Umno to make a measured response, saying it should acknowledge the resignation, reject any inaccurate claim, defend the constitutional process, and move on.

“Anything beyond that merely extends the shelf life of the controversy,” said Razis, a former head of corporate communications at the Prime Minister’s Department.

A more mature response was containment, which called for no emotional escalation, no candidate-level retaliation and no personal feud. BN’s national leaders should handle any rebuttal to Puad, and allow Johor BN to focus on the campaign.

“The campaign that wins is the campaign that knows what not to amplify. BN’s task now is simple: let Puad own his exit, let the facts stand, and let Johor voters meet the candidates,” Raziz said.