NKR introduces state of emergency because of coronavirus

Bako Saakyan, President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), has decreed the introduction of the state of emergency in his republic because of the threat of coronavirus spread. However, the second round of the presidential election, scheduled for April 14, has not been postponed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the first case of coronavirus infection was confirmed in the NKR on April 7. As of April 12, the number of patients reached six.

At the expanded sitting of the interagency commission coordinating efforts to prevent the coronavirus spread in the NKR, held on April 12, President Bako Saakyan signed the above decree to introduce the state of emergency in the Republic of Artsakh (the NKR) for a period of one month.

After the sitting, Mr Saakyan addressed the NKR residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. "The holding of nationwide presidential and parliamentary elections, envisaged by the Constitution, is not someone's whim, but a clear understanding of the situation. A failure to hold elections on time may lead to a constitutional crisis with many unpredictable negative consequences," the President of the NKR said, in particular, whose words were translated by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to Tigran Grigoryan, a political analyst, "the authorities want to hold elections at any cost, the reason thereof is very simple."

"They've spent an unprecedented amount of money even by their standards," Mr Grigoryan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that the March 31 elections were among most expensive in the NKR's history.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 13, 2020 at 01:57 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.