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The time for clean campaigns

2023-02-02T09:37:05.477Z


Good democratic practices are a responsibility that cannot be delegated by party leaders. The assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by supporters of former President Trump so that the victory of President Biden is unknown, the absence of former President Bolsonaro in the recent transfer of command to Lula in Brazil and the subsequent attempt to riot of his supporters breaking into the institutions to promote a coup, the decision of the former president of Peru Pedro Castillo to dis


The assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by supporters of former President Trump so that the victory of President Biden is unknown, the absence of former President Bolsonaro in the recent transfer of command to Lula in Brazil and the subsequent attempt to riot of his supporters breaking into the institutions to promote a coup, the decision of the former president of Peru Pedro Castillo to dissolve Parliament generating a state of social upheaval, the imprisonment and persecution of opponents in Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and El Salvador, are unmistakable symptoms of the weakening of democratic institutions in America.

The fragility of democracy and the claim of some rulers to become autocrats not only affect our region, it seems to be a global phenomenon.

Countries like Russia, Hungary, Poland and Turkey, among others, face processes of institutional weakening and concentration of power in the hands of their presidents.

Recently, the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has sent to Parliament a project to reform the judicial system and weaken the Supreme Court.

It should be remembered that Netanyahu is undergoing a corruption trial that has not yet been finalized.

Any similarity with the Argentine case is mere coincidence.

Or not.

In this framework of global weakness of the institutions, we are preparing to start the electoral campaign in our country which, according to the 2020 Latinobarómetro survey, has 79.2% of the population between somewhat or very dissatisfied with the management of their representatives.

This fact alone should call us to reflection.

Electoral processes are usually moments of high confrontation between the aspirants to power.

They are instances in which political relations are tensed to the maximum while state, national and subnational structures are put at the service of party proselytism.

With the aim of gaining electoral space, the political forces sharpen the polarization with their adversaries by appealing to all kinds of resources: fake news, media operations to discredit the contender, disqualification of the opponent, are some of the tools that emerge from the basements in which high points of the electoral confrontation.

This "dirty campaign" model stains and discredits politics as a whole, justifying the discourse of those who hide their autocratic ambitions by criticizing the political system with an anarcho-capitalist libertarian allegation.

Deceit, insults, disqualification, embezzlement of public resources, intelligence services spying on the candidates, false promises, among other scourges, are actions that must be banished if we want to strengthen political representation today. In crisis.

A campaign without aggression would generate a more appropriate climate for eventual future agreements, should they be necessary in an emergency.

One way to recover the prestige lost by politics and democracy is to act responsibly, discuss with respect, propose programs and consolidate democratic leaderships that defend the law and the institutions of the republic.

Good democratic practices are a non-delegable responsibility of party leaders;

For this reason, it would be desirable for those who are candidates to sign a public commitment to carry out an electoral campaign without aggression and with transparency.

Ultimately, it should be the citizens, with their vote, who punishes those who fail to comply with this commitment in defense of democratic ideals, seriously threatened today.

Rodolfo Rodil was vice president of the Chamber of Deputies


Source: clarin

All news articles on 2023-02-02

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