Our politicians’ obsession with their public personae and the emphasis that they put on public relations stunts often causes serious problems for public policy and prevents political staff from doing their job properly.

The most recent example of this phenomenon was the government decision to replace public officials’ luxury gas-guzzling automobiles with smaller, more environment-friendly hybrid vehicles.

The decision has obviously not been thought through properly.

One of the consequences of this decision is that the prime minister and senior ministers will be using hybrid automobiles which cannot be armor-plated because of their relatively small engine capacity.

However, given the country’s terrorist threat, government officials must realize that their personal security should not be compromised by efforts to please the media through communication tricks.

After all, any incident involving these vehicles would, above all, jeopardize the image and stability of the country.