"Democracy is currently under assault" - Barack Obama

Former US president Barack Obama has warned that democracy is “currently under assault” around the world.

During a speech at his foundation’s Democracy Forum in New York the former US president also told an audience that the attack had “nothing to do with traditional partisan lines or policy preferences.” 

“Democratic ideas are currently under assault around the world,” Mr Obama said. 

“We see a manifestation of it in the unjustified and brutal war in Ukraine, we see it in the back sliding that’s taking place in what were well-established democracies. 

“We see it in the escalating polarization and disinformation that’s so evident in recent elections, whether it’s in Brazil, the Philippines, Italy, Sweden – right here in the United States. 

And he gloomily added: “What we’re seeing, what’s being challenged, are the foundational principles of democracy itself.” 

The first-ever Democracy Forum was held in partnership with Columbia University and the University of Chicago at the Javits Center in New York City. 

“The notion that all citizens have a right to freely participate in selecting who governs them, the notion that votes will be counted and the party that gets more votes wins, that losers concede, that power is transferred peacefully, that the winners don’t abuse the machinery of government to punish losers and entrench themselves and make it impossible for other parties to compete in future elections,” added Mr Obama.

“The notion that judiciary should be independent, that nobody is above the law, and that our political debate should at least aspire to be rooted in facts and logic rather than fabrication and propaganda.”