PARIS (AP) – As the world watches as American institutions are shaken to the core by an angry mob, officials and ordinary citizens have wondered: how fragile is democracy, and how much tension can their own political systems withstand?
“If it can happen in the US, it can happen anywhere,” said Gunjan Chhibber, a 39-year-old who works for an American technology company in India, the largest democracy in the world. She stayed awake all night and watched and worried at her home in Delhi while the chaos unfolded many time zones far away.
In Germany, whose modern system of government has been fueled by successive US governments, Chancellor Angela Merkel was extremely blunt on Thursday, drawing a direct line from President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede his election defeat to the atmosphere that stormed the US capital. by his supporters possible.
A fundamental rule of democracy is that there are winners and losers after elections. “Both must play their role with decency and responsibility so that democracy remains the winner,” Merkel said.
Eva Sakschewska, a German who followed the news closely, said the events in Washington were almost unthinkable.
“You can only fear how far it can go if populists come to power and do such things,” she said. “You know that democracy in the United States has a long history and that it comes down to something like that – yes, one is afraid.”
Even the United Nations has offered the kind of statements that are usually reserved for fragile democracies, and has expressed grief and called on unidentified political leaders to promote respect for ‘democratic processes and the rule of law’.
In Iraq, where Saddam Hussein’s violent American-led overthrow in 2003 led to years of sectarian conflict and a deeply flawed democracy, many people watched and marveled at the scenes unfolding in Congress.
Iraqis have been suffering for years from power-sharing arrangements among rival elites, divided along sectarian lines. Backroom transactions are common to avoid political paralysis, and democratic ideals are tainted by a entrenched system of patronage through which government posts are handed out in exchange for support. Political parties also have affiliated militias that exercise significant power on the streets. From afar, the violence in Washington has had a despicable notoriety.
“Iraq calls on the US government to respect the principles of democracy, or it will intervene militarily to destroy the dictator,” Mustafa Habib, a well-known Iraqi analyst and researcher, said in a tweet that the action of Washington mocked abroad.
Venezuela, which is under U.S. sanctions, said the events showed the U.S. “suffering from what it has generated in other countries with its aggression policies.”
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has survived opposition efforts to oust him despite allegations of human rights abuses, civil unrest and a humanitarian crisis that has forced millions to flee the oil-rich country.
“We have carried out so much democracy that we have no more left,” American-Palestinian scholar Yousef Monayyer wrote on Twitter, the social network Trump prefers, until he was expelled there late Wednesday.
His comments are in line with the growing tension of sarcasm bordering on the innocence of those who have long resented the alleged American tendency to chastise other countries for keeping their democratic ideals less than perfect.
This time, however, it was an attempt by Americans to stop a peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden after a democratic election in a country that was widely regarded as a model for democratic government around the world.
In China, which has been in constant friction with Washington over trade, as well as military and political issues, people have been criticizing Trump and his supporters, citing both the coronavirus pandemic and the mob action.
Communist-ruled China has long accused the US of hypocrisy in its efforts to promote democracy and advocates for human rights abroad.
The Communist Youth League posted a photo montage of the Capitol violence on its Twitter-like Weibo microblog with the caption: “At the sixth, the US Congress, a most beautiful place to behold.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to be mocking her comments in June 2019 in praise of sometimes violent anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
‘The USA is not as safe as China, is it? “I think Trump is a self-righteous and selfish person,” said Yang Ming, a financial adviser.
Iran, which regularly criticizes Americans for violating human rights and democratic values, has jumped on the bandwagon as evidence of American hypocrisy.
The semi-official Fars news agency calls the United States a “fragmented democracy”, while Iran’s pro-government believes Twitter reports, and photos of the crowd are spread with hashtags that include #DownfalloftheUS.
The events prompted American insistence that it be a bastion of democracy for countries that have only given up autocratic or military-controlled forms of government in recent decades, in some cases.
“The beauty of democracy?” with a shrugging emoji was the response tweeted by Bashir Ahmad, a personal assistant to the President of Nigeria, who has seen several coups since independence – including one led decades ago by President Muhammadu Buhari, who in 2015 led to the office was elected.
Some legislators in Asia – for example, South Korea and Taiwan – have sometimes been plagued by fighting and screaming matches, but democracies across the region are usually opposing versions of European and American legislative models.
“It’s shocking. “I hope this will give the Americans a chance to review their democracy,” Na Naun told the Korean House of International Solidarity, an NGO in Seoul. “Trump is fully responsible for this incident. After his four-year rule, the Americans find it difficult to tell other countries that their country is a good model for democracy. ‘
Several countries, both U.S. allies and antagonists, have issued travel warnings to their citizens, although coronavirus infections are skyrocketing in the United States, arrivals from abroad are on a drop.
Ally after ally expressed shock, followed by confirmation that American democratic institutions would resist the unrest.
“Throughout my life, America has stood for many important things: an idea of freedom and an idea of democracy,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. ‘In so far as he encouraged people to storm the Capitol, and in so far as the president has consistently. questioning the outcome of a free and fair election, I believe it was completely wrong. ‘
But some, such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, have warned that trying to stop a peaceful transition into what many say is the world’s oldest democracy shows that no place is immune and that relapse is only reversed with difficulty.
“Democracy is never taken for granted. It has to be worked on every day. It has to be won anew every day. And that applies to all democracies, “she told German news agencies.” That is why we know it is a very small thing.
For others, less friendly, it has been portrayed as a last resort and one that belongs only to Americans themselves.
“Obviously, American democracy is limping on both feet,” said Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia’s upper house of parliament. ‘I say it without shadow. America no longer holds a course and has therefore lost all rights to institute it – and even more so to impose it on others. ‘
Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed.