When people lead

Viktor Orban felt that the Parliament impeded his fight against COVID-19. The prime minister of Hungary used the majority he enjoys in the parliament to secure emergency powers for himself. He can now run Hungary through decrees without any judicial oversight. Any criticism of his measures will attract imprisonment up to five years.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, some justifiable. But critics argue that some leaders are using the public health emergency to usurp all powers and are emerging as authoritarian regimes. We are not talking about Russia or China. Even traditional democracies like Britain and Israel are compelled to turn to emergency measures in their battle against the pandemic. The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered the courts to be shut down (some criticise this as a measure to evade his own prosecution), authorised his internal security agencies to carry out extensive surveillance on citizens, and is punishing violators of the lockdown with six months’ imprisonment.

The United Kingdom, with well-established democratic institutions and practices, had to push through a pandemic-related bill that gave sweeping powers to different ministries for detaining and arresting people indefinitely. Health Secretary Matt Hancock, while presenting the Bill to the parliament, admitted that it was “a departure from the way that we do things”.

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