INTERNATIONAL: The United States' call for a "Summit for Democracy" is an attempt to maintain its supremacy over the world and cling on to the idea of a unipolar system, with a narrow definition of democracy, according to a Syrian official.
The senior advisor to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,Bouthaina Shaaban spoke has made the remarks via video link on Wednesday to discuss multilateralism and global human right governance at the 2021 South-South Human Rights Forum.
Shaaban says that U.S. is trying to assume the leadership role on the issue of democracy in an exclusive summit, scheduled for 9 to 10 December, with a selected number of countries who met the narrow criteria of democracy defined by some Western countries.
"The problem with this is that Western countries believe that only liberal democracy is a democracy, and there is a phrase in the United States in the shops that says 'one size fits all,' but as human beings, we know that one size does not fit all, because each country produces a political system, a social system, a cultural system that reflects its civilization, that reflects its culture, that reflects its history, and therefore, liberal Western democracy cannot be the only democracy in the world," said Shaaban.
Shaaban has also cited the example of the American government's denial to acknowledge Nicaragua as a democracy, despite its president Daniel Ortega having just won a landslide victory in his election.
For many people living in the Middle East that have suffered from the intervention of Western powers for decades, democracy means being "satellite states", following Western orders and having no say in internal affairs, said Shaaban.
She has recalled that after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the U.S. has resorted to unilateral coercive measures against any country that doesn't fit its agenda.
"My country Syria is a subject to unilateral, coercive measures, which were not condoned by the United Nations, and yet, the United States imposes these measures not only on Syria, but on any country which is going to deal with Syria, or to trade with Syria, or to receive Syrians. In this sense, the United States has established for itself an international order, and in fact lately, they have been speaking about the rules-based order, and no one knows what this rules-based order means," said Shaaban.
Shaaban described the "Summit for Democracy" as an American attempt to invent a political or cultural tool to maintain its hegemony over other countries, following its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
While most countries share a fundamental interest in a multilateral system, some Western powers are trying to undermine it, said Shaaban, adding that China is among the candidates for leading efforts in preserving this system.
"What China and Russia are saying and doing about different cultures, about differences, about non-interference in internal affairs, about equal integrity for people, is exactly what all people all over the world want," said Shaaban.
Themed "putting people first and global human rights governance," the two-day 2021 South-South Human Rights Forum was jointly hosted by China's State Council Information Office and the Chinese Foreign Ministry. About 400 high-level government officials, diplomatic envoys, representatives of international organizations, experts, and scholars from around the world attended the gathering both in person and online.
