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International The Economist April 25th 2020 49

Covid-19 and autocracy President Recep Tayyip Erdogan imposed a
state of emergency after a failed coup in
Protection racket 2016, and has since ruled like a sultan. This
pandemic presents an even greater oppor-
tunity for mischief, because it is raging
everywhere at once. The world’s attention
is on the virus. No repressive act in a far-off
land is likely to make headlines elsewhere.
DELHI, ISTANBUL, JOHANNESBURG, KAMPALA AND SINGAPORE China chose now to arrest Hong Kong’s
Would-be strongmen are using the pandemic as an excuse to grab more power
leading pro-democracy activists and punc-
n april 13th, during a discussion health. No fewer than 84 countries have de- ture its Basic Law (see China section). “Dic-
Oabout when and how America should clared a state of emergency since the pan- tators and others may think there’s no bet-
ease covid-19 lockdowns, Donald Trump demic began, says the Centre for Civil and ter time to take repressive measures,” says
claimed to have “absolute power” to de- Political Rights, a watchdog in Geneva. Rob Malley of the International Crisis
cide, overriding state governors. Within a Some will surrender these powers when Group, an ngo in Brussels.
day, he was forced to retreat. No serious le- the emergency is over. Others plan to hang Serbia’s president is in effect in sole
gal scholar agreed with him—America’s on to them. The danger is greatest not in charge. Togo’s has the power to rule by de-
constitution is admirably clear on the lim- mature democracies with strong checks cree, though in theory it runs out in a few
its to presidential authority. and balances, such as America, but in months. Cambodia’s emergency law gives
Contrast that with Viktor Orban’s ef- places where such safeguards are weak, the government the power to take any
forts. On March 30th Hungary’s parliament such as Hungary. “measures that are deemed appropriate” to
issued a “coronavirus law”, giving the Mr Orban has spent the past decade fight the disease. It can restrict people’s
prime minister almost unlimited powers eroding checks on his power, nobbling the movement, ban public gatherings, censor
to rule by decree, with no expiry date. Par- courts, tilting the electoral system and urg- social media, seize property and declare
liament can repeal Mr Orban’s new powers, ing his cronies to gobble up independent martial law. Anyone who fails to “respect”
but since his party has an impregnable ma- radio and television stations. Mr Trump’s the law faces up to ten years in prison. The
jority, it probably won’t. Mr Orban has in ef- claim of absolute power was laughed at; prime minister, Hun Sen, can act without
fect become a dictator—in the heart of Eu- Hungarian media welcomed Mr Orban’s any real oversight. Though his ministers
rope. He may relinquish some of his new corona coronation, and Hungarian institu- say the measures will last for only three
powers after the pandemic, just to prove tions did nothing to block it. months, they can be extended indefinitely.
his critics wrong, but perhaps not all. Unscrupulous politicians have seen op- Such powers far exceed any that demo-
Covid-19 is creating opportunities for portunity in disaster before. Vladimir Pu- cratic governments have assumed to fight
autocrats and would-be autocrats to tight- tin grabbed extra powers after a school covid-19, but the regimes in question try to
en their grip. They must assume extraordi- siege involving terrorists in Beslan, a town portray them as normal. “The purpose of
nary powers, they insist, to protect public near Russia’s border with Georgia. Turkey’s making this law for Cambodia is not un- 1