Liberal International inaugurates global Council of Liberal Presidents

On Thursday 25 June 2020, the Presidents of the regional liberal networks worldwide met virtually to discuss the challenges facing each respective continent and how to bolster cooperation in the global liberal response to the pandemic.

Convened by Hakima el Haité, President of Liberal International, the council of liberal presidents expressed solidarity with the large-scale protests around the world campaigning against violence and systemic racism, affirmed that democracy and the freedom of speech and assembly should not become victims of the pandemic, and that only by strengthening multilateral cooperation can the world mitigate the greatest challenges to international peace and stability in our time.

They agreed on the following statement:

Africa:

COVID-19 has focused the spotlight on Africa, in particular, how further away we are – from digital access to independence – from other regions. At a time when we are asked to stay at home, connect with humans from a distance, through digital platforms, we reflect that the GSM Association, an industry organisation that represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide, reported in 2019 that mobile internet in the region stands only at 24%.

To tackle coronavirus, the gap between those with access to information technology in developed and developing countries across the continent must be closed. The Africa Liberal Network calls for action to reduce the digital divide Africans face.

Reliable, affordable internet infrastructure is essential to conveying critical information during the outbreak of COVID-19. While Africa can boast 97% mobile phone penetration, the region has a lower level of internet use than any other region of the world. This, coupled with some of the highest tariffs in the world for internet access as a proportion of income leaves Africans more vulnerable to the health consequences of any pandemic.

Our own research, conducted during the Coronavirus outbreak, shows that trust in governments across Africa is flatlining. When many countries saw a peak in government trust at the onset of the crisis, a majority of respondents neither trusted their political leaders’ ability to manage more or less. Trust stems from availability and transparency of information, for Africa to be ready to respond to the next crisis we must first address our information deficit.

Asia:

Across Asia, the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that democracies are much better equipped in responding to a crisis than authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes. Moreover, COVID-19 has also exposed the tendency of autocratic and populist leaders to exploit the health crisis to amass more powers for themselves. The militaristic (instead of public health) approach to the pandemic has also significantly compromised their ability to effectively respond to the crisis and put their societies in grave danger.

The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), a regional network of liberal and democratic political parties and individuals in Asia, believes that liberals and democrats from Asia and from around the world should work more closely together to spread “democratic success stories” and relatedly, counter and debunk the authoritarian narrative. Liberals and democrats should also be forward-looking, innovative and gender-responsive in crafting our response to the ”new normal”, and in our preparations for what life would be after the pandemic. This is to ensure that liberal democracy will survive and thrive in the post-COVID-19 world.

Globally, liberal democracy has been in decline for over a decade before the pandemic. When COVID-19 happened, there was a genuine concern that the decline would accelerate further for two reasons: 1) China and its allies have advanced the narrative that its success in containing the pandemic can be traced to its authoritarian system of governance; and 2) the declaration of ‘state of emergency’ and passage of certain restrictive legislation have become a popular governmental response not only to control freedom of movement but also other freedoms. While it is true that COVID-19 can indeed have negative consequences to the future of liberal democracy, the pandemic can also be an opportunity for liberals and democrats to build and rebuild the case for liberal democracy, backed by pandemic success stories from around the world.

In Asia, Taiwan has been heralded as one of the most successful countries in terms of containing COVID-19, despite its exclusion in the World Health Organization (WHO). That it has been able to do so without imposing a lockdown or adopting a state of emergency is a testament to the fact that there is a democratic way of handling the crisis. Moreover, Taiwan has also been credited for its respect for data privacy in its contact-tracing processes, as well as its encouragement of people’s participation in crafting health policy through digital social innovation. People-led initiatives, rather than government-imposed measures, have also been cited for the relatively successful containment of the virus in Thailand and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, together with the Philippines and Cambodia, represent how authoritarian and semi-authoritarian leaders can take advantage of a health crisis to accumulate more power for themselves and impose harsher controls over society. In all the three jurisdictions, numerous questionable arrests have been made during the pandemic, and those arrested are primarily those from the opposition or those critical of the government. In the cases of the Philippines and Cambodia, the declaration of state of emergency, coupled with compromised or politicized courts, has given the government an additional ammunition to crackdown on the opposition, civil society and the media. And the worse is not yet over. In Hong Kong and the Philippines, the national security law and anti-terrorism bill, respectively, hang over the heads of Hong Kongers and Filipinos like the sword of Damocles.

CALD, therefore, calls on our liberal and democratic partners from around the world to make use of the opportunity provided of the COVID-19 crisis to promote democratic success stories; to expose the incompetence of autocratic and populist leaders in addressing the crisis while vehemently countering their attempts to centralise political power; and to be forward-looking, innovative and gender-responsive, guided by democratic principles and values, in shaping the post-COVID-19 world.

Europe:

COVID-19 has presented governments in Europe and around the World with their biggest challenge in modern history. Not since WWII has any crisis had such a deep and simultaneous impact on the world as a whole. As the countries of Europe start to re-open their economies and begin to relax imposed restrictions on their citizens, we recognise that the pandemic also presented a challenge to liberal democracy and the open and global society as we know it. We need to use this as an opportunity for self-reflection and to learn from each other. The ALDE Party supports greater cooperation, experience-sharing and partnership between liberal partners around the world.

In addition to calling for greater coordination and preparedness from the European Union and its member states, we support calls to reform the World Health Organisation to ensure it is a real global coordinator and a supranational authority, while also enhancing its independence and accountability. In this way, the WHO will be strengthened to respond promptly to future pandemics, be sufficiently-resourced to pioneer research into emerging disease, and be inclusive and allow participation of all able and willing countries including Taiwan, whatever its status. An independent investigation into the handling of the Corona crisis and the role of the WHO, China and other countries will be of key interest to learn lessons for the future. We also need to develop a strategy to fight disinformation as effectively as the next pandemic.

While we understand drastic measures from governments were needed to ensure the health and safety of their citizens and economies to contain this crisis, we insist that these emergency measures must be proportionate to the objective, limited in time, and are subject to regular scrutiny. We believe strongly that democratic backsliding now will have a longer-lasting impact than any coronavirus.

To this end, we condemn the actions of ‘corona dictators’ who have used the pandemic as an opportunity to expand their powers. Such as in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban passed a bill to enable him to rule by decree without any time limit or democratic accountability and risking further restrictions on freedom of speech. Until he returns these powers – and in full – we will continue to keep watch and ensure the rule of law is enforced.

Also in Russia, where prominent journalists and activists are being arrested for exercising the right to peaceful assembly and for protesting against the restrictions and curbs of freedoms of speech introduced under the guise of the pandemic. Undeterred, a referendum will take place on 1 July that will allow President Putin to consolidate and extend his time in power, and to ensure its conduct COVID restrictions are being lifted in Moscow despite the number of COVID cases continuing to rise.

Latin America:

RELIAL, the Latin American Liberal Network, expresses deep concerns at the political and economic effects that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on our region. As we mourn those deceased and strive to help those in need of medical care, we express alarm at the serious threats to our political and economic liberties.

As many countries adopted lockdowns and quarantines as measures to control the spread of the new Coronavirus, multitudes have been left without jobs and income, in addition to millions who were already jobless. Governmental support through social programs is neither sufficient to provide for such a large proportion of the population, nor is it financially sustainable. Moreover, the instruments used by largely weak state institutions are not insulated against political exploitation and thus threaten to reinforce clientelism and political exploitation of the poor.

Increasing numbers of people depend on the government to make a living. Yet as extreme poverty grows in the region, demand for government intervention in the economy – through quantitative easing and acquiring new debt – also rises, risking economic catastrophe. The financial circumstances and traditions of the region do not allow for a major expansion of monetary supply without a serious threat of inflation and governments do not enjoy sufficient trust to expand indebtedness on a large scale.

Political control of the poor and limitless power to intervene in the economy have been baleful Latin American traditions and have caused serious harm to political, civil and economic liberties in our countries. As developed countries close their markets and borders, nationalistic forces are strengthened, resulting in a combustable combination that leads to emboldened populism. In the face of the grave threat of a new wave of protectionism and anti-globalisation, we urge our liberal colleagues around the world to resist such tendencies. When an economic crisis is combined with a strong wave of protectionism, the effects are catastrophic, as we have seen during the Great Depression after 1929. After the financial crisis of 2007/8, the world avoided such a combination. This time the signs look far more ominous, and we have to work hard to avoid that calamity.

In the face of COVID-19 and of the crisis it has generated, RELIAL and its member organisations emphasise the need for political and economic freedom as the means to meet the challenge before us: though the rule of law, not authoritarianism led by a charismatic leader; through economic freedom, not public spending; through openness, not protectionism. The answer, more than ever, must be freedom, not populism. We therefore urge our fellow liberals from around the world to join us in defending liberty in Latin America as the best way recover from the crisis and to build a future based on our shared values.