Debate: Strengthening the right to participate: legitimacy and resilience of electoral processes in illiberal political systems and authoritarian regimes
Date: WEDNESDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2023
Speaker: Helena Dalli
Language: EN

Your report highlights that 80 % of the world’s population currently lives in countries that cannot be considered free. Only three decades ago, one could believe that the end of the Cold War would give way to a world predominantly ruled by democratic nation states.  Today, we know that not only democracy cannot be taken for granted, but our liberal democracies increasingly come under attack.  We need to make one thing clear from the start. The right to participate in public life and to vote in democratic elections is a human right, a basic right recognised by international law to all citizens across the world, but that fewer and fewer individuals can fully enjoy.  You say in in your report that this right is under threat, not only because authoritarian regimes violently silence the opposition, perpetuate themselves in power, abusing the system, or even come to power by means of military coup d’état. Amongst the most dangerous but less obvious threats are the proliferation of illiberal actors who, disguised as democrats, instrumentalise social networks and traditional media to spread false or manipulated information to unjustifiably delegitimise democratic electoral processes, foster mistrust and disenchantment among the population, and ultimately discourage the vote, disempower the electorate, and hijack democratic elections.  The strategies used by illiberal regimes and actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated. In particular, the development of digital and artificial intelligence tools are creating a whole world of opportunities, but also challenges to our democracies. For instance, when used to shape and fuel divisive narratives or a distorted perception of reality.  These threats coexist with older tools used by autocratic regimes, including the deployment of fake observers that rubber stamp manipulated electoral outcomes. In the face of these challenges, the EU must be relentless in its efforts to uphold democratic processes worldwide.  In this spirit, the EU has endowed the global Europe human rights and democracy programme with EUR 1.5 billion to support actions conducive to the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and in particular to enhance democratic resilience and participation in third countries.  One of the most visible examples of the EU’s actions in support of democracy remains our EU election observation missions. The EU electoral missions are not only highly recognised across the world for their professionalism and high standards of independence and impartiality, but, above all, they remain a crucial tool both for local actors and for the EU to first assess the electoral processes in light of international standards, and second, to identify the necessary actions to support as a follow up of their recommendations.  The EU Election Observation Mission to Guatemala is only one recent example of the significant role that the EU-flagged missions can play in supporting democratic electoral processes. By adopting a long-term framework, the EU electoral observation missions have been able to expose many of the strategies that autocrats use to perpetuate themselves in power, for example, by capturing institutions, coercing voters or malignly manipulating information.  At the same time, the EU observation missions themselves are sometimes facing challenges, including attempts to delegitimise their action when they expose undemocratic behaviours. However, this is a testimony of their good work in upholding democratic outcomes, particularly as opposition parties and civil society continue to highly demand the EU observation and make good use of their assessment and recommendations. In this regard, and on behalf of the High Representative, allow me to take this opportunity to thank the European Parliament once again, and most particularly the MEPs who serve as chief observers in our electoral missions, for your active engagement and support for the EU’s policies and actions in defence of democracy. You can rest assured that we will take good note of the suggestions you put forward on how to best support democratic participation across the world. Your contribution as elected representatives of EU citizens remains key and remains always welcome.