Researchers and activists believe that COVID-19 has taken over the world’s energy and isolated countries, which could have accelerated authoritarianism or extremism around the globe.
“COVID” is a dictator’s dream chance,” stated Theary Seng, a Cambodian American human rights lawyer. He was indicted on charges of treason in the ostensibly democratic Southeast Asian nation where Prime Minister Hun Sen has ruled for over three decades.
Human Rights Watch charges Cambodia’s government with using the pandemic to cover up for imprisoning political opponents without due process. Numerous people have been charged and are now facing mass trials.
Seng stated that the fear of COVID has significantly restricted movement for gatherings or movements to form when it comes to government opposition.
The world’s worst public health crisis in a century has been dealt with by the government and severely restricted the lives of billions.
Luke Cooper, a London School of Economics researcher, and author of “Authoritarian Contagion,” stated that the state has returned to its role as a force to manage society, and to deliver public goods, because of the immense economic, social, and health resources invested in fighting the pandemic.
During the pandemic, restrictions on civil liberties and political opponents were increased on several continents.
Viktor Orban, the conservative nationalist prime minister of Hungary, has restricted media and judicial liberty for ten years. He also criticised multiculturalism and called Muslim migrants a threat to Europe’s Christian identity.
Orban’s government introduced an emergency powers bill to allow it to make resolutions without the approval of parliament. This effectively gave Orban permission to rule by decree. It passed a law in June that prohibited the sharing of content depicting homosexuality or sex-reassignment with anyone younger than 18. Although the government claims that the law was passed to protect children against pedophiles it actually outlaws discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.
The rights of gay and lesbian people in Poland have been eroded by the conservative government. Last year, a court under government control ruled that abortion was prohibited in Poland. This triggered protests that overturned a ban on large gatherings during the outbreak.
India’s largest democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been accused by some of his supporters of trying to silence criticisms of his administration’s response in May to the devastating pandemic that decimated the country. After imposing sweeping regulations giving it greater power to control online content, his government has taken down journalists and ordered Twitter users to delete posts criticizing its handling of the pandemic.
Opponents of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party were quick to accuse him of suppressing dissent, and creating policies that would transform a multifaith democracy in to a Hindu nation that discriminates towards Muslims and other minorities.
The Russian government has used the pandemic to justify its latest arrests of opposition figures. Alexei Navalny, an opposition figure in Russia, was arrested with his associates and charged with violating regulations regarding mass gatherings.
Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian president of Belarus, extended his quarter-century-old iron grip on power in August 2020 by winning an election that many Western countries and the opposition claimed was rigged. Massive protests erupted and were met by tear gas, rubber bullets, and mass arrests.
After being warned of an alleged threat, Ryanair’s plane from Athens was forced to land at Minsk, Belarus, in May. Raman Pratasevic (opposition journalist) was also taken from the plane with his girlfriend and later arrested.
Western nations called the forced divertio a brazen hijacking. They imposed sanctions on Belarus. However, these sanctions are unlikely to incite Lukashenko into changing his ways. The actions of Hungary have attracted harsh words from other European Union leaders. However, the 27-nation bloc does not have a unified response to restrictive regimes such as those in Hungary and Poland.
Extremism was a movement that existed even before COVID-19.
Cooper stated that authoritarian politics had been reprinted all over the globe in the past 15 years. “Democracy is very fragile. Democracies don’t have a clear vision of what they want to do in 21st-century democracy.”
The 2008 global financial crisis saw governments pour billions into struggling banks. This shook the Western world’s confidence. The years of recession that followed and the government austerity that followed have boosted populism across Europe and North America.
Authorities in China saw 2008’s economic crash as proof that they were on the right track, and not the rest of the world’s democracies.
Rana Mitter (Historian), director of the University of Oxford China Center said that the crisis convinced China’s communist government “the West had no more lessons to teach them.” In the years since, Beijing has increased its economic power abroad and cracked down on any opposition within its borders.
In China’s western Xinjiang, hundreds of thousands have been held in reeducation camps. Activists and ex-detainees claim that authorities have imposed forced labor, forced birth control, and torture in recent years. Beijing describes the camps instead as vocational training centers.
Beijing has also tightened its control over Hong Kong, which is threatening dissent in the former British colony. After the arrests of its top editors, executives, and protesters, the last remaining pro democracy newspaper, Apple Daily was forced to halt publication in June.
Authorities responded strongly to the coronavirus’s first appearance in Wuhan, China, with harsh lockdowns that kept the virus under control.
Mitter stated that the pandemic has reinforced the view among ordinary Chinese as well as China’s leaders, “that something had gone very wrong with respect to the way the democratic world dealt with the virus, while something had gone right for China.”
He said, “That is being used very much to teach, not only about the pandemic but also about the virtues and systems of liberal countries.”
Curfews, travel restrictions and travel restrictions became more common in Europe last year. France required that all citizens sign a declaration stating they will not travel more than one kilometer (just under a mile) from their homes. Britons were prohibited from traveling abroad by law, while those who attended a London vigil to honor a deceased woman were charged with illegal gathering.
British lawmakers expressed concern over the Conservative government’s emergency powers. Many of these powers were passed without debate in Parliament.
Ann Taylor, a member of the House of Lords Constitution Committee and an opposition Labour Party politician, stated that “Since March 2020 the government has introduced large amounts of new legislation. Much of it transforms everyday life and introduces unprecedented restrictions to ordinary activities.” “Yet, parliamentary oversight has been extremely limited in regard to these important policy decisions.”
Intelligence agencies and politicians in the West have also warned about the danger from conspiracy theories about coronavirus that are compatible with extremist narratives. Large anti-lockdown and anti-mask protests have been witnessed in many countries. They were attended by a mixture of the far right, far left, and other conspiracists.
British officials warned that extremists could exploit the crisis to create division and undermine the country’s social fabric. Different hate groups blame Muslims, Jews, and 5G phones technology for the pandemic.
There are signs that they will fight back. The pandemic has also increased trust in scientists, and prompted demands for more accountable political leadership.
Hungary has one of the highest per-capita coronavirus deaths rates in the world. There is growing opposition to the government’s pandemic policies as well as to its authoritarian thrust. Thousands have taken to the streets to support academic freedom and LGBT rights. A coalition of six opposition parties has formed to challenge Orban’s Fidesz party ahead of 2022 elections.
Brazil is a country where extremism and resistance are evident. Brazil’s far-right President Jairbolsonaro, who has expressed nostalgia for Brazil’s two-decade-old military dictatorship, attended protests last year against its courts and Congress. He called the virus “little flu”, doubted the effectiveness of vaccines, and opposed economic and social restrictions.
Renato Meirelles is the director of Locomotive Institute in Brazil. He said that authoritarianism has advanced through “a strategy for fake news and attacks upon factual truth.”
Bolsonaro was so far held under control by Brazil’s institutions, particularly the Supreme Court. This stopped Bolsonaro from preventing states or cities from implementing COVID-19 restrictions and ordered an inquiry into Brazil’s pandemic response. Protests finally broke out onto the streets. Demonstrators marched in many cities across the country twice over the last month.
Claudia Maria, a Rio de Janeiro protester, said, “I’m here for the rights to those in need, the rights of my kids, for my rights to live, and to have vaccines to all.”
The United States has seen President Joe Biden stray from Donald Trump’s populism, but the Republican Party, which was radicalized by Trump’s supporters, has every chance to win power again.
Cooper of the LSE stated that the authoritarian tide would not recede soon.
He said, “This is a struggle among democracy and authoritarianism which’s going to continue for decades.”
