There is no need to declare state of emergency again. The measures being taken to help curb the spread of COVID-19 are aimed at fully protecting public health, concluded President Stevo Pendarovski, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Health Minister Venko Filipche.
After a Security Council session Thursday, Pendarovski said state of emergency was not an option because it was uncertain if the virus might be curbed with state of emergency reinstated.
According to him, Parliament is the only place where it should be discussed.
“Back then [March] we had no functioning Parliament, the country had a caretaker government, so it was my duty. The main motive to declare state of emergency was the government to pass decrees with the force of law in the absence of a functioning Parliament. Now, we have a functioning Parliament able to enact laws,” stated Pendarovski noting that state of emergency and curfew were two different things.
In Europe, he added, no one has introduced a nationwide curfew. “France has banned traveling from region to region, Germany has no such movement ban. Let’s not lie ourselves that if we don’t have one, the pandemic will only worsen,” the President told reporters.
He said he was prepared, in his capacity as supreme commander of the armed forces, to put at a disposal the army as logistics support in the fight against the pandemic.
PM Zaev too said he saw no need for state of emergency.
“We don’t have to have a state of emergency for the government to introduce a curfew or lockdown. Parliament is fully functional. I’m concerned that Parliament hasn’t been allowed to switch to online sessions. I have information, that might not be accurate, that since the formation of Parliament, 10% of MPs were either infected or self-isolating,” he said, adding he expected the restrictive measures to prove effective.
Furthermore, Minister Filipche also believes that restrictions to movement could prove ineffective in curbing the coronavirus.
“When the pandemic broke out, there was a general belief that restrictions to movement could subdue the virus, but it’s turned out not to be the case. We have to realize the virus is everywhere and we have to live with it. The measures promoted in all the countries, mandatory masks, avoiding large crowds, is to allow life to go on as normal as possible,” stated Filipche.
