US NEWS: Joe Biden concludes the conference with a call to ‘protect’ the frontiers of democracy

US President Joe Biden closed the Democracy Summit on Friday reminding world leaders, participants, of their responsibility to “strengthen the democratic process” so that it can withstand the “oppressive power of democracy” and vowed to play its part in America by enacting laws that promote voting rights.

The two-day summit was attended by leaders of 89 countries – out of 100 invited – and the European Union. Biden announced in his closing remarks that he plans to host its second program next year and indicated that it will be a personal event.

Joe Biden concluded the conference by saying, “As government leaders, we – we have a responsibility to listen to our citizens, to strengthen our democratic paths, and to advance the reforms that will make governments accountable, accountable – and strong. against the ban and – and the destructive power of democracy and those who want it – and the pursuit of naked power before the good of society. “

The first conference of its kind was attended by, among others, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron of France, Boris Johnson of the UK, Justin Trudeau of Canada and Scott Morrison of Australia. Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey were not invited and Imran Khan of Pakistan declined the invitation.

“Over the past two days, we have heard government leaders, as well as reformers from all regions of the world, talking about the challenges democracy faces and the potential for its renewal,” Biden said, summarizing the remarks. at the conference.

“We have highlighted the importance of protecting media freedom and that improving the status of women and girls is an investment in the success of our democracy,” added the US president. “And we focus on the need to empower human rights defenders and ensure … technology … is used to develop democracy to uplift people, not to hold them down.”

The last point was a clear indication of Beijing’s technological use of the persecution of a handful of Chinese Uighur Muslims by what the United States and other countries have described as genocide. The communists of the communist party also used technology to suppress the conflict.

President Joe Biden went on to say that although the challenges of democracy may vary from country to country “the threat we face and the solutions we seek have the same precedent”. Autocracies, actually.

In the US, the worst threat to democracy in recent history came from a group of insurgents instigated by former President Donald Trump who attacked the US Capitol, home of the country’s parliament, to prevent the merger of its two chambers in securing Biden’s election. as president.

Biden cited the domestic democratic threats in the US as a matter of voting rights and pledged to “bring to reality the full American promise, including the passage of the Freedom of Voting Act and the John Lewis Voting Development Act”. Both laws require, above all, to make voting easier and less discriminatory.

“Here at home, that means working to fulfill the full commitment of the United States, which includes establishing both the Freedom of Voting Act and the John Lewis Voting Development Act,” he said.