January 6, 2021 is a day that will live forever in infamy in the minds of not just Americans but everybody who is a believer in the principles of democracy and the rule of law.
However, it would be wrong of us to focus solely on the actions of the so-called Patriots. I believe in the midst of that chaos, America still has a lot to teach and the emerging democracies of the world still have a lot to learn from the USA.
The Phone Call
We should start with the interesting phone call between the president and the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger. It should be noted that while they are both from the same political parties and thus natural allies, Mr. Raffensperger refused to give in to the coercion antics of the president. He could have decided to twist the figures to aid the president’s desires, he could have suggested other means but he chose not to. He went as far as telling the sitting president of the United States that the president had wrong data.
Imagine a phone call like that in a barely stable African democracy, what you would most likely hear from the secretary would be “consider it done sir” yet here we have a subordinate who trusted the system and the institutions that support the democracy enough to stand up to the President.
The Riots
There should be and there are, questions about how the law enforcement agencies handled the riots both their apparent lack of preparedness and their response when push came to shove.
However, the fact that the law enforcement agencies eventually got their acts together and within hours restored normalcy to the affairs of the Capitol is another huge testament to the effectiveness of the democratic institutions of the United States.
Unlike in the average emerging democracy, the police and other affiliated agencies were not totally under the control of the president. They had the duty to protect and serve the citizens and they went about that as soon as they arrived, they were not political tools of subversion in the hands of a dictator.
In June, during the Black Lives Matter protests, there were suggestions that the president could call on the army to help subsume the unrest. This was quickly criticized and the army chiefs distanced themselves from such ideas.
Here in Nigeria, the government used the army to unlawfully disperse peaceful protesters against police brutality and bad governance in October last year, killing scores.
Spot the difference?
The Certification
The day will be remembered for the awful events that took place both outside and inside the Capitol and the unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud by a number of lawmakers but in the end, democracy prevailed.
In the end, the vice-president Mike Pence certified the results from all the states despite the pressures from his own boss to whom he is loyal to do otherwise.
The institutions and tenets behind America’s democracy are so strong that all that power concentrated in the executive was not enough to make them topple the election results.
There were concerns that the federal judges appointed by Trump would hand him victories at the lower courts over the election litigation, this never happened.
The supreme court justices who had three of them appointed by the president followed the law and not personal sentiments.
The legal institutions in the United States are strong and this deserves to be celebrated.
I have heard and seen Africans and Nigerians react with a degree of pleasure to what is happening in America. I understand such feelings. The same country that acts as the world’s police is unable to put its house in order, the paradox is there for all to see but in the midst of all that we should celebrate the strength of America’s institutions. Most other countries would have descended into civil war already.
While the flaws in democracy and America’s political system were there for all to see, it should not serve as an excuse for the leaders of emerging democracies to act with impunity. No system of government is perfect and democracy is the most ideal for now.
America remains the beacon of freedom, liberties and democracy. Recent events are but a stress test of its strength and America passed.
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