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Democracy under siege in many countries: US

WASHINGTON: Though the number of elected governments is growing worldwide, democracy itself is under siege in many nations, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on Tuesday as she tagged four countries as key US foreign policy priorities in the coming year.

While careful not to cast aspersions directly on any particular country, Albright said democratic progress in Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Ukraine is crucial to global and regional stability.

"In the year ahead, the United States will be focusing particular attention and resources on the challenges faced by four key democracies," Albright said in a speech to the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies here, naming the countries.

"These nations differ markedly but each can be a major force for stability and progress in its region, and each is at a critical point along the democratic path."

In general comments that prefaced her remarks on the four countries, Albright warned against elected governments losing sight of their mission and their opponents using undemocratic means such as coups.

"Around the globe, newly democratic countries are having trouble matching the visible and immediate promise of elections with tangible, widespread benefits for their people," she said.

"If unaddressed, this raises the risk that public confidence in democracy will erode and support grow for failed remedies from the past, including protectionism and authoritarianism."

At the same time, she also warned elected leaders not to succumb to the temptations of "self-enrichment, self-glorification and self-perpetuation in power."

"The result is sham democracy," she said. "When elected governments depart from democratic principles, they run a grave risk."

An even graver risk, however, is if opponents to these governments try to take power unconstitutionally, Albright said.

"A military coup or other violent seizure of power moves democratic development back to square one," she said, noting that such moves brings to power leaders who lack legitimacy and are ineligible for much foreign aid.

Though Albright did not directly say so, she made clear that Washington saw the new democracies of Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Ukraine as being at-risk and vowed to assist them.

On Colombia, Albright urged congressional support for a proposed 1.6-billion-dollar US aid package to help President Andres Pastrana with his ambitious plan for peace and prosperity.

In Indonesia, the secretary cautioned that the struggle for democracy is facing tough challenges and must be supported.

Nigeria is "engaged in a high-stakes test of democracy and we must do all we can to help them succeed," Albright said, praising the reform efforts of President Olusegun Obasanjo after just seven months in office.

For Ukraine, where democratic reform has made only halting progress since independence, Albright said the United States was looking for "positive" developments this year.

"Our hope is that this year will be memorable for positive reasons," she said, adding that Washington planned to double its leadership training exchange programme there this year. AFP