Heads of nations are taking on powers rarely seen outside war. Critics worry the damage could outlast the virus.
. Tracking contagion requires wide surveillance. Social distancing means parliaments cannot meet to vote. Protests can’t take over public squares. Campaigning and even elections come into question.Many leaders have now seized broad powers to place their citizens under surveillance.
Douglas Rutzen, president of the Washington-based International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, said covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, “is not only a public health crisis — it is also a political crisis.” “Governments around the world are assembling emergency powers that they will be reluctant to relinquish, and over time emergency powers seep into the fabric of society,” he said. “You see this throughout history.”
Adding to the challenge, many legislatures have trimmed their schedules or stopped meeting altogether to avoid large gatherings and unnecessary travel. In Belgium, many decisions are being made by party leaders, not by full votes in parliament. Spanish lawmakers have postponed all non-pandemic business. The European Parliament is conducting most of its business via video link.
“The moment a government takes such drastic measures, especially in fast ways, in covid-19, it is extremely difficult to take the horse back by the reins,” said Sergio Carrera, who tracks rule-of-law issues at the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies.
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