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| On coronavirus, politicians have cost lives and delayed a resolute response | Jure Makovec/AFP via Getty Images |
The
incompetence pandemic
The first
victim of the coronavirus? Leadership.
By MATTHEW
KARNITSCHNIG 3/16/20, 4:03 AM CET
If the
coronavirus outbreak has taught us anything beyond the necessity of careful
hygiene, it’s that the first victim of a pandemic is leadership.
At no time
in the past 75 years has the world been in more need of a "the only thing
we have to fear is fear itself” moment; and at no time have global leaders so
utterly failed to deliver.
From
Beijing to Brussels, from Rome to Washington, London and beyond, politicians
haven’t just failed to rise to the occasion, they’ve engaged in a dangerous
game of parsing, obfuscation and reality-denial that has cost lives and delayed
a resolute response.
Even though
virologists have been warning for weeks that the outbreak could explode,
political leaders, particularly in the West, did little to halt its advance.
“Many more
families are going to lose loved ones before their time” — Boris Johnson, U.K.
prime minister
Like the
virus itself, which scientists have traced to the Chinese city of Wuhan (and
leaders there denied and downplayed for weeks), the prevailing political
strategy for confronting the crisis was Made in China.
Few may
have expected inspired leadership from U.S. President Donald Trump, who
dismissed the coronavirus as a Democratic “hoax” and just days ago predicted it
would disappear “like a miracle.” Even so, his fumbling of a national address
on the emergency, followed by his trademark blame-shifting for his government’s
lack of preparedness (“I don’t take responsibility at all”), will be remembered
as a low point in American political leadership.
Solidarity
with allies? Think again. Trump followed up his ban on Europeans traveling to
the U.S. (a decision he announced without even making a courtesy phone call to
EU leaders beforehand) with an attempt to reportedly buy a vaccine-maker out
from under the Germans’ noses, aiming to guarantee Americans are first in line
for the corona shot the firm is developing.
The irony
is that the Trump administration previously opted not to use the
German-developed coronavirus test endorsed by the World Health Organization,
choosing instead to develop its own version, which has proved unreliable. The
decision has created massive delays in testing in the U.S., allowing the
“foreign virus,” as Trump calls it, to spread unabated. South Korea tests more
people per day than the U.S. has in total in the weeks since the outbreak
began. The fiasco didn’t stop Trump from falsely claiming last week that
“testing has been going very smooth.”
U.S.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with his Brazilian counterpart Jair
Bolsonaro at Mar-a-Lago earlier in March | Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
While Trump
gets the most attention for his corona bungling, he’s hardly alone. Brazilian
strongman Jair Bolsonaro, who met the American president last week in Florida,
characterized the coronavirus panic as a media-fueled “fantasy.” A day later,
his press secretary tested positive.
If there’s
one leader who should recognize the historic gravitas of the moment and rise to
it with stirring rhetoric matched by action, it’s the man who modeled his
political career on Winston Churchill, Boris Johnson.
“Many more
families are going to lose loved ones before their time,” he said in a televised
address on Friday, insisting that his government has “a clear plan.”
Trouble is,
the strategy underlying that plan, dubbed “herd immunity,” appears to have
unnerved more people than it has reassured, fueling fears that Johnson has no
plan at all.
“The
realization has struck No. 10 that Britain has lost control of Covid-19, but it
should at least look as though it is doing something,” the Sunday Times
concluded.
What about
Angela Merkel? After all, crisis is the German leader’s speciality. From the financial
implosion of 2008 to the refugee crisis of 2015, Merkel has thrived in times of
peril.
Until now.
“I make a
decision about when and where I address an issue according to the circumstances
and the facts” — Angela Merkel, German chancellor
The German
chancellor, revered by some as the “leader of the free world,” left management
of the pandemic to her youthful health minister, Jens Spahn.
She only
emerged from her corona shell following last Monday’s market meltdown and after
Italy was forced to impose draconian measures to bring the spread of the virus
under control. Asked why it took her so long to engage publicly, Merkel
insisted she had been monitoring the crisis from behind the scenes since
January.
“I make a
decision about when and where I address an issue according to the circumstances
and the facts,” she said.
Yet the
facts were there for all to see. Truth is, Merkel has been more focused on the
refugee influx on Greece’s border with Turkey and the crisis in Libya in recent
weeks.
Even as
Merkel has tried to maintain a sage public demeanor, the government’s response
to the crisis has been marked by crossed wires and confusion.
Merkel’s
economy minister, Peter Altmaier, repeatedly played down the economic risks
posed by coronavirus, saying that he didn’t expect it to become “a major burden
for the global economy.”
Angela
Merkel, right, delegated management of the pandemic to her health minister Jens
Spahn, left | Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images
Then
reality set in. After a rollercoaster week in the markets, he and Finance
Minister Olaf Scholz on Friday unveiled Germany’s “bazooka,” an unprecedented
program to extend unlimited liquidity to German companies hit by the crisis.
On the
ground, Germany’s virus-fighting effort has been no more coherent. While some
states have closed schools, others have not. Last week, Berlin canceled all
cultural events only to permit a professional football match. Following an
outcry, the game was closed to the public and then canceled altogether.
The city
initially allowed its bars and clubs to remain open, then announced on Friday
they would have to close on Tuesday. Over the weekend, city leaders decided to
impose the closure immediately, dispatching police across the German capital to
eject patrons. Meanwhile, Munich’s beer halls remain open, at least for now.
Most blame
Germany’s incoherent crisis-fighting on the country’s federal structure, which
leaves authority over key policy areas, including public health and education,
to Germany’s 16 states.
Amid the
lack of clear political direction, many Germans were convinced until this week
that the outbreak would be no worse than a seasonal flu.
A similar
picture has emerged across much of Europe. After weeks of largely ignoring the
unfolding crisis, leaders from France to Austria have been forced by a sudden
explosion of cases to impose severe limits on their citizens.
A
record-breaking smurf festival in France earlier in March | Damien Meyer/AFP
via Getty Images
Just a week
ago, France hosted the largest Smurf convention ever, drawing more than 3,500
visitors. On Saturday, the country’s prime minister announced the closure of
all bars, restaurants and non-essential shops.
Though it
makes sense for EU members to tailor their coronavirus strategies to local
requirements, the variety of approaches across the region suggests little, if
any, real coordination.
Anyone
hoping European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would plot a coherent
path forward has been disappointed.
On Monday,
as Italy’s government shut down public life in the country and stock markets
melted, von der Leyen appeared before the press to boast about her first 100
days in office. Like an eager pupil who wanted to show the world how well she
had prepared for her big speech, von der Leyen seemed almost offended that
reporters were forcing her to address the gathering coronavirus storm.
Even then,
she didn’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation.
The
Commission’s "coronavirus response team" had the situation under
control, she insisted, adding “we meet once a week.”
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