The Government decided to propose to the Parliament the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency, Interim Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski said at today’s press conference.
PM Spasovski said the extremely serious situation and the threat to the people’s health as a result of the coronavirus pandemic imposes the introduction of emergency measures.
“This situation requires a state of emergency. The Government has no dilemmas about this and we took a decision on declaring a nationwide state of emergency at today’s session. The measures have given the expected results but we need to step them up in order to prevent a sharper peak. We are convinced this can be done only by declaring a state of emergency,” said Spasovski.
He noted that in case the Parliament is dissolved, the Constitution provides for the President to declare a state of emergency for a period of 30 days.
Spasovski said this is the first time on record that such a measure is declared in the country and one of the toughest decisions taken by any government.
After a state of emergency is declared, it doesn’t mean that the movement of people and their liberties will be automatically restricted, says Spasovski.