This is what democratic backsliding looks like. Each side believes the other is escalating and trying to seize absolute power, and so each side escalates in res

This is what democratic backsliding looks like. Each side believes the other is escalating and trying to seize absolute power, and so each side escalates in response. There's never, ever a "good" side in backsliding countries. Just participants who don't believe the other is willing to play by any rules, and therefore seek a game theoretic optimum, which means defecting. Institutional neutrality is always a casualty.