Party politics and the state of emergency

The Coronavirus crisis has laid bare both the strengths as well as the weaknesses of political systems, democratic institutions and the political parties throughout the region, mirroring the real state of democracy on the ground.

The already weakened democratic institutions have deteriorated even further, and the fragile checks and balances systems have demonstrated their inefficiency in practice. Political leaders rarely managed to resist the temptation to use the unprecedented opportunity of power up for grabs, misusing restrictive measures as a convenient instrument to strengthen the position of government and weaken political opposition.