BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2020) The coronavirus pandemic has offered the "best arguments" to propagate democracy, while authoritarianism has lost its spell, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday.
"I think we should say this with confidence, especially to those who doubt and despise democracy. From this podium, I often talk about the admiration for authoritarianism that we have been witnessing all over the world, including here in Europe. This danger has not been eliminated. But as an interim result, I dare say: during the coronavirus crisis, authoritarianism has lost its charm," Steinmeier said at the Forum Bellevue on the Future of Democracy.
According to the president, strong speeches, bragging, demagoguery and arrogance do not help fight the pandemic.
"The fight against the virus renders unhelpful the falsification of data or its concealment to make your own regime look better in the competitive struggle of systems. And it is unscrupulous when elected governments abuse the fight against the virus to further restrict rights and freedoms to strengthen their own power," Steinmeier went on.
The president stated that Germany had managed to "flatten the epidemiological curve" and help the most affected as part of a common "public effort," thanks to its democracy.
"We have managed to demonstrate this act of effort not because a strong arm forced us to do so, but because ... of solidarity and a sense of responsibility. In this time of uneasy uncertainty, we have seen that many people in our country trust democratic institutions. We also saw that trust in current politicians has only grown during the crisis management," Steinmeier said.
He added that trust cannot be won by imposing orders. The president also singled out diversity of views, "faith in rationality and trust in science" as "sources of strength for the German democracy.
In "some parts" of society, he went on, the faith in rationality is still fragile, so it is necessary to resist their hostile attitude toward scientists, attempts to threaten them, falsify facts and spread conspiracy theories.
"The coronavirus crisis gives us the best arguments to campaign for science and democracy," the president said.
The "battle for the future" is currently underway, according to Steinmeier. What the world will be like after the crisis remains an open question and is up to democracies to "debate and decide in conditions of equality and freedom," he noted.
It is still unclear whether Europe will keep its "will for change" after the crisis, the president said, stressing that this determination and cooperation will be vital to countering climate change and steering the continent toward the economic recovery.
