Barisan Nasional (BN) must respond to any viral issue on social media, especially negative perceptions about the coalition, within three hours, says its chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The deputy prime minister and Umno president said unfavourable perceptions of BN must be addressed swiftly to prevent the public from believing them and harming the coalition.
“We lost in 2018 and again in 2022 because in my view, the negative perceptions about us were too strong and we did not address them in a timely manner.
“We used to reply to these issues after three days, sometimes after 30 days.
“By then it would have already taken root in the minds of the people, even if sometimes the perception was inaccurate or wrong,” Bernama reported him as saying in his keynote address at a forum tonight.
Zahid also said BN must learn from the results of general elections in Canada, Singapore and Australia, where parties formed governments despite facing various challenges.
“Their victory was based on different approaches, and no longer on conventional or conservative ones. They could not avoid using social media as a mode of communication,” he said.
Zahid said BN must build a new narrative that addresses public anxieties, especially concerning rising prices, housing and employment.
