–Syed Badrul Ahsan–

Kamala Harris has done what no American politician, apart from Bernie Sanders, has lately done. While Senator Sanders has publicly condemned the Israeli government over its atrocities in Gaza, Vice President Harris, who will take on Donald Trump at the presidential election come November, has been cool toward Benjamin Netanyahu on the Israeli leader’s visit to Washington.

Ms Harris has made it clear where she stands on the Gaza situation. She has drawn attention to the plight of Palestinians, 40,000 of whom have been killed by Israel’s military since October last year. She has made it known that she will not remain silent on the issue. If she is elected President in November, the world will perhaps experience a new perspective in American policy on the Middle East. For now, fingers will need to be kept crossed.

Vice President Harris’ position on Gaza is a refreshing new idea emerging from the powerhouse of politics in the United States. Add to that President Joe Biden’s move toward seeking term limits for justices of the US Supreme Court. To what extent the move will be successful depends on a number of factors, chief among which is the necessity of a strong Democratic majority in both houses of Congress to accomplish the task. It is an idea which will surely not be welcomed by Republicans, who now have a majority of six in the nine-member Supreme Court. Donald Trump and his supporters will not want any reform of the court.

But given that Supreme Court justices are appointed for life, a reality which has often impeded legislation in the country and interfered with its politics (remember how the court handed the presidency to George W. Bush even as the hanging chads were being counted in Florida in 2000 to ascertain if he or Al Gore had won the election), it is crucial that term limits be brought in.

The recent Supreme Court decisions to do away with Roe Vs Wade and deciding that Trump could be tried as a candidate but not as President for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election typify the partisan extent to which the court has become politicised, with a conservative majority willing to go all the way to ensure that America regresses into the past.

President Biden will of course have left office by the time his thoughts are followed through. But one clearly does hope that a Kamala Harris administration will succeed his and take his idea forward. It is simply inconceivable that when people in every institution of the state — the presidency, Congress, governors’ offices, civil service, the armed forces — has rules relating to terms and limitations of service, justices of the Supreme Court will carry on till they die or resign because of ill health. Their longevity on the bench has often struck at the very principles of democratic politics, indeed stymied it.

There are other reforms which ought to come into a practice of American democracy. The recent conviction of Donald Trump as a felon has done little to prevent him from seeking the White House again. In this day and age, it is a clear travesty of the law and morality. Democracy entails the presence in politics of individuals with an unblemished record in the conduct of life. Now, what might happen in Washington if Trump is once again elected to the White House? He could pardon himself, which again would be a queer thing to do. He and his fellow Republicans could with impunity cast the law to the winds. The point is therefore clear: the US constitution ought to be amended, to include the provision that individuals who have violated the law in any manner or form are barred from seeking political office.

Reforms are an imperative in American politics in the twenty-first century. One may be quite happy with the manner in which presidential elections are conducted in the United States. But there are the grave impediments to ensuring that the elections throw up a proper and democratically acknowledged outcome of the vote, that they are fair. In 2016, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by nearly three million votes in popular terms, but lost to him at the Electoral College. The system is flawed. When a candidate comes by a majority of votes at the ballot box, it is a shame to have the popular will ignored and have an electoral college overturn the result and place the defeated candidate in the presidency. The majority loses to the minority.

American lawmakers will be expected in the near future to bring in reforms here, the goal being to accord respect to the popular will through doing away with the Electoral College. It is disturbing when the direct results of presidential elections are undermined by the indirect votes of an electoral college. The method does not strengthen democracy but leaves the system open to question both in America and abroad. While on this subject, it is important to note that President Biden would also like to have limits imposed on presidential immunity over the actions of the individuals occupying the White House. The idea makes sense. Blanket immunity granted a President over action which is contrary to the law or morality drills holes in the structure of democracy. It places a President above the law, which again is a negation of the rule of law.

There are, of course, other mechanisms of democracy in America which surely deserve commendation. That cabinet members and ambassadors must face questioning from the Senate before their appointments can be confirmed is a healthy means of ensuring accountability. That US Presidents hold regular press conferences and deliver State of the Union speeches every year keep the wheels of democratic transparency moving. That there is a smooth transfer of power from an outgoing President to an incoming one is a charming sight. That journalists can question, sometimes rather impertinently, politicians on the issues and not rest content until they are satisfied with the answers is professional behaviour the media in other nations can learn from.

American democracy will be tested once more in November this year. The presidential election will be a no-holds-barred contest between a public prosecutor, which Kamala Harris has been, and a convicted felon, which Donald Trump is. America’s standing in the world will be determined by who emerges triumphant in November. The choice is between a candidate who has a keen grasp of policy and the issues and a candidate who has consistently demonstrated not only his ignorance of politics but also brought politics low with his below-the-belt assaults on anyone who disagrees with him.

And, yes, this critical need for reforms — of the Supreme Court, of the presidential voting system, of the process of convicted criminals taking part in elections — ought to be borne in mind. American democracy must graduate to the level of European and Indian democracies.

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Syed Badrul Ahsan writes on politics, diplomacy and history