The battle between two old men for the leadership of the most powerful country in the world is taking shape in the United States of America. Presidential election will take place there in a year, on November 5, 2024. According to American media and experts, it is quite possible that the same old candidates as last time, only four years older, will compete for the White House.
The current president Joe Biden he is the preferred candidate of the Democratic Party before the primaries, according to a number of overseas media, despite his current age of 80 years. Among the Republicans, according to polls, the former president, 77 years old, is the leader Donald Trump. According to The New York Times, he laughs at his opponent for his occasional antics and attacks Biden’s age for office. However, Trump himself has butter on his head, the newspaper pointed out factual errors in his speeches. “Viktor Orbán… He is the leader of Turkey,” he said recently of the Hungarian prime minister before correcting himself.
The ruling representatives of the world’s major states are generally getting older. “There are many politicians of too old age in too high positions across the world,” stated the political scientist Jan Kubacek.
Joe Biden (left) and Donald TrumpSource: CTK/AP/Julio Cortez
The septuagenarians include, for example, ruling statesmen such as the president Vladimir Putin in Russia, You are Jinping in China, the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin NetanyahuTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be among them in February. Well over eighty have a Palestinian representative Mahmoud Abbas and Iran’s spiritual leader Sayyid Ali Khamenei. There is no shortage of political peasants even in European democracies.
“From the Czech point of view, we can say that we are observing a certain phenomenon Franz Joseph. A number of countries are starting to think in a kind of monarchist way – let’s choose not to change, let’s stick with what we know,” noted Kubáček.
Sultan manners
According to the political scientist, this can be a big problem in the case of political roles where leaders have an executive role. “If the president of a world power is not in full force, it can be very dangerous. Or questions may arise as to who decides for him,” Kubáček told Deník.
According to him, a good person is needed for such a high position with a high degree of responsibility health, energy and readiness to deal with serious and stressful situations. All of this can decrease with age. “We see in the US that the country is divided. Disputes between the population and general skepticism are deepening,” he claims.
Kubáček added that other long-time world leaders adopt the mannerisms of sultans. “They are trying to keep the government and power as long as possible. The risk is not only that over time they will move away from the real world and the needs of ordinary people, but mainly their unpredictability in office. It is attributed to the overall instability of political decision-making,” the political scientist described.
Seventy-one-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled the country for over twenty years and can continue until 2036. amendment of the constitution. The same thing happened in China.
According to Kubáček, there is a big difference between the European political role of, for example, the presidents of parliamentary systems, which is rather symbolic and representative, and, on the other hand, in countries with a powerful position of their representative, such as the USA or Russia. “For example, in Italy, the old age of presidents is already a kind of tradition,” he pointed out.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) welcomed the then Czech President Miloš Zeman in Beijing on April 27, 2019Source: ČTK
According to the political scientist Kubáček, there have been debates in countries around the world about limiting the highest political office to an age limit. “However, it is not implemented in practice. With the fact that it would undermine the principles of democracy and that someone can be full of strength at seventy. At most, the states limited the number of possible mandates, i.e. terms of office,” he explained.
Resignation or abdication for health reasons from the highest political office is unique in the world in modern times. In the Czech Republic two years ago, there was speculation about the capabilities of the then president Miloš Zeman. Because of health problems, he ended up in the hospital. The possible transfer of his powers during the period of indisposition was discussed. The first Czechoslovak president already set an example Tomáš Garrigue Masarykwho resigned for health reasons on 14 December 1935.
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