A good day for democracy, Europe, and the future

The voters of France and Slovenia rejected an international trend toward authoritarianism

Apr 25, 2022

Today was a good day for democracy; the voters of France and Slovenia rejected an international trend toward authoritarianism. I hope this day will signal a renewal of our trust in democratic values in Europe. A sign that we don't believe in populist nationalism and that democracy wins over non-democratic forces.

France

Emmanuel Macron was re-elected president of France with an estimated 58,2% of the vote, compared to 41,8% for his far-right competitor Marine Le Pen. I'm happy to see that Macron's victory was larger than any poll had projected and that it was also the first time in 20 years that the French voters re-elected a sitting president.

But it is worrying that his victory margin was substantially narrower than his 66 percent victory against the same opponent five years earlier; Le Pen's score today was the best ever for her far-right party.

So we get five more years with Emmanuel Macron as the president of France. He has rapidly grown from a young newcomer to a central player in the world and a key decision-maker in the European Union. He has, for instance, recently been heavily involved in efforts to stop Russia's war in Ukraine.

The polls about his popularity give a mixed picture. On the one hand, many French people admire his presidential stature and believe he has shown that he can deal with significant global crises such as the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis. But on the other hand, he is frequently regarded as out of touch with the general public.

But whatever the view at home may be, it was clear today that many European leaders were relieved to see the re-election of a pro-European centrist. Macron quickly received congratulations from European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Slovenia

Today's good news for democracy and moderate non-populist European parties didn't end in France because there were also elections in Slovenia. According to exit polls, the opposition liberal party won by a landslide in the parliamentary election today. This result means a severe defeat to populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa.

The latest polls showed that the opposition Freedom Movement received 35.8% of the vote, compared to 22.5 percent for the ruling conservative Slovenian Democratic Party. So if the results are officially verified, the Freedom Movement, a newcomer in the election, will most likely form the next government in a coalition with smaller center-left parties.

A critical juncture for Europe

We are at a critical juncture for Europe's future. With Russia's war raging in Ukraine, France has rejected a candidate who turned away from NATO, the European Union, the United States, and its core beliefs, like no discrimination against Muslims. As President, Marine Le Pen would likely have followed policies that would have weakened the united allied front in the fight to preserve Ukraine from Russian aggression.

IQ-test

Meanwhile, in the United States, nationalistic populism is still alive, as we could see yesterday when Donald Trump addressed a rally in Ohio. He claimed that people no longer call him "stupid" after passing a cognitive test in 2018.

He told his supporters that he hated being labeled stupid and wanted to prove his worth. Trump then mentioned a talk he had with Ronny Jackson, a Texas Republican who served as Trump's White House physician, in which he inquired if there was a "test" he could take.

Let me quote from his speech: "I said to doc Ronny...I don't like when people call me stupid. I have a great heritage. An uncle who is a great, great genius. A father who is a genius. I don't like to be called stupid," Trump said. And he continued: "Is there a test or something I can take to prove to these radical left maniacs I am much smarter than them? And he said, 'Sir, there is a test. It's called an X test.'"

According to Newsweek, it is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment that Trump is referring to (MOCA). The test isn't an IQ test; instead, it determines whether a person has cognitive issues like dementia or memory loss.

In 2018, Jackson gave him the test and said he got a perfect score. However, experts pointed out that MOCA provided no indicator of Trump's intelligence. An example of a question asked is sketching a clock showing a specific time.

Despite this, Trump boasted about his perfect score, claiming that he "aced" the exam. Remember that this is also the man who described himself as a "very stable genius" on multiple occasions. Trump proudly proclaimed this weekend: "Now, they don't call me stupid."

Trump also mentioned remarks he made earlier this week in which he claimed he would rather be branded a tyrant than a dumb person during the rally.

Needless to say that the hashtag “#StupidTrump” was trending on Twitter today.

So how do I look back at this day:

I try to forget about Trump for a day and will read up tomorrow on the latest January 6th findings. Instead, let's focus on Europe.

On the one hand, I am distraught that more than 40 percent of voters in France voted for a far-right presidential candidate. These voters have missed the disastrous impacts of having autocrats like Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin in power.

But on the other hand, I feel hope, at least this evening, after a good day for democracy. Perhaps we are learning our lessons, the same lessons that we could have learned from 20th-century history; that democracy (with all its flaws) is the best system and, above all, it is essential to make use of your right to vote. Together we can make a better world. And that starts with your vote.

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