By Representative Henry Arora
This virus is a terrible enemy. It is infectious. We have no vaccine or treatment. It has a higher mortality rate, especially in our elderly population. It requires that we take special precautions and change our way of life in many ways. However, does it justify that we suspend our democracy, declare a state of emergency and handover our decision making to a Governor and his advisors? Absolutely not. We stand at a critical juncture where our democracy has been suspended. This is a time we need to stand up and refuse this authoritarian tendency before it goes too far. Otherwise, history will not be kind to us.
Back on March 12th, when the Governor declared a state of emergency, we did not know what we were up against. The legislature unanimously supported the Governor to take concrete and forceful action to handle the emergency. This is how our country has handled serious emergencies in the past. However, the immediate emergency has passed. The challenge which stays with us is a longer one : managing an infectious disease with a certain trajectory. This emergency requires making choices, making unprecedented changes to our way of life and redirecting the immense resources and capabilities of our citizens. Such choices and decisions should not be made by an authoritarian Governor, but by people through their elected representatives. It is through transparency, discussion and debate that we can handle and overcome this challenge. Authoritarian emergency rule has no place and should be rejected.
Over the past 10 weeks, the Governor has ruled through a number of executive orders. 3000 people have lost their lives, most of them elderly and living in nursing homes. While I do not doubt for a moment that the Governor made decisions with the best intentions, some of those decisions were poor. There was not enough debate, discussion and due process in making those decisions. Perhaps, at the outset, that may have been necessary. But now, not only is this not necessary it is inappropriate. We did not quarantine people coming from New York, we did not focus enough resources to our nursing homes and our classification of essential versus non-essential was arbitrary. How is home building essential and cataract surgery non-essential. We tolerated many of these diktats as necessary given the way emergency showed up. But from here on, this should be unacceptable.
What is the right way forward ? Democratic processes need to be restored. Laws and rules need to be made by people’s elected representatives. There are three arms of our government. If we need to close down schools, retail or restaurants, we need a vote in the legislature. The Governor should immediately stop releasing new edicts and give up his emergency powers. Let our democratic institutions work just as they have done for hundreds of years. If there is even a hint of authoritarianism or a desire to usurp our democratic tradition, our Governor needs to be impeached.
