We have the biggest crisis of European democracy since 1945

Excluding rivals from the election, cancelling ballots that did not go to power, closing opposition representatives under suffocating charges, and careful adherence to procedures combined with indulgence, erstwhile against the same procedures they go “ours”. Unfortunately, this is the sad reality of the erstwhile arrogant democracy of the West of our time.

Is that inactive democracy?

Remind me, what's the name of the political system, where power is obstructing or even preventing opposition from moving for office? Take classes with young political students at any university and ask them that question. Will they answer you that this is democracy? I uncertainty it.

And what to call a situation where people go first to vote in elections that they believe are democratic. After which, the authority considers that, however, it does not accept this result, due to the fact that it won not the candidate who likes the power. Is this inactive democracy?

And what we utilized to justice about regimes that bring trials to opposition representatives, accusing them of various common crimes—especially financial crimes, which are easy to sale propaganda as “thief” or “sticky fingers” by media minions of the establishment.

Anyone who has even simple historical cognition knows that there has been no despot in the past of the planet that would persecute their enemies for being solely enemies of hers. It was always and in any case that they were accusations of very circumstantial crimes – of bribery, theft, and, as it was absolutely impossible to stick anything, it was besides for "walking on a red light".

But let it be that it is actually the power of purification. And that Temida is actually sowing his blade blindly, besides hitting his own. But that's not what happens in our world. due to the fact that in our world, all these deceptively akin charges of the representatives of the camp of power never even hit a court hearing, and if so, they fall from it quickly. Is this inactive democracy?

Unfortunately – the pain is that the mechanisms described here no longer apply only to Russia is Belarus. They are besides not a description of the way the political strategy operates in China or Turkey. The mechanisms described above happen in countries European Union. And not just on her east outskirts. But in the heart of the system.

French version

The most shocking example is, of course, France. Going for triumph in the next presidential election Marine Le Pen has been convicted of misaccounting for its expenditure on the parliamentary office in European Parliament. This punishment is manifestly unfair. erstwhile that's disproportionate. And 2 – based on double standards.

For example, anyone who wants to read the study of British investigative journalists from Follow The Money. For those who do not know, they worked out and made public any time ago the alleged Qatari affair – that is, the scandal that Euro-Parliamentarians accepted money from the cresus from the Persian Gulf. However, this scandal – which is besides very crucial – was swept under the carpet. And 1 Greek socialist, Eva Kaili, was appointed as the scapegoat.

The same investigators wrote a study in 2023, which shows that only in the erstwhile word of the Europarliament as many as 1 5th of the Euro MPs (actually 139 out of 705) had the same charges for accounting for office expenses as Mrs Le Pen. Has any of them been held accountable even to a degree resembling what the leader of the French opposition has now been convicted of?

Yeah, you're guessing right. In any case, no excuse was made to exclude specified a policy from further activity. A immense proportion of the defendants were not even gracious to return the money to Parliament.

Supporters of the liberal establishment in Europe will now, of course, dress up in Katon's robes and claim that Le Pen is rightly liable for the “swindle”. But I don't think even they believe it's about equality for everyone before the law. After all, the common belief is that the office's case has become an apparent pretext to shoot out the opposition candidate from the race for presidency. Another desperate effort to keep a liberal establishment in power. And that in violation of the spirit of democracy? Worse for the last one.

If it were an isolated case, you could inactive swing. But he's not isolated. A fewer weeks ago we had cancellation of the first circular of presidential elections in RomaniaBecause they were won by a candidate who didn't like the establishment. Again the same thing – if it were only 1 Georgesc, 1 could look at charges of his sanity. But it happens in context.

Scared establishment

Unfortunately Poland is besides part of this context. Sitting inside, we may not be aware of the historicity of events. But we have never had anything like this in the past of the 3rd Republic. It was never so that at the last consecutive ahead of the key elections the main opposition organization had the funds that the Minister of Finance needed for the current operation unlawfully halted.

At the same time, there are not 1 and not two, but already respective prosecutorial proceedings against opposition MPs. 1 of them's in custody. The another had to flee the country. We haven't seen anything like this before. Not on that scale. Not in this accumulation. We have heard about specified things so far in the context of Turkey or Belarus. And we were very upset about the dictators there. We are very happy that “it would not pass.” He's coming through.

Also looking at Europe, you can see the same picture. The liberal EU establishment composed of a mainstream organization (chades, liberals, social democrats, greens) is terrified. He's losing his vote. However, he does not effort to remedy this by responding to the voters' expectations of another migration or social policy. They decided to outlaw their opponents and see if they could get distant with it.

Democracy became the first victim of this decision.

Rafał Woś