The Pandemic in Armenia Was Managed in the Most Disgraceful Way: Edmon Marukyan

Due to the state of emergency, no country is willing to restore communication with Armenia, which causes significant damage both to the country's economy and creates additional complications for our compatriots wishing to return to Armenia. This was stated by Edmon Marukyan, the leader of the 'Enlightened Armenia' faction in the National Assembly, during the thirteenth episode of the #bRightTalk format.

Marukyan addressed the economic consequences of the pandemic, noting that due to poor management, the pandemic spread unprecedentedly in Armenia, and alongside that, the economy experienced an unprecedented decline. 'Due to the disgraceful management of the authorities, the pandemic 'flew' in Armenia, while the economy 'went down,' and we lost in both fields. The pandemic has been managed in the most disgraceful way in Armenia,' Marukyan stated.

He also touched upon the country's closed borders and the approximately five-month-long state of emergency. 'Armenia is one of the countries that declared a state of emergency for around five months. It is constantly said that the borders should be opened; this is a disgraceful situation, but when I talk to ambassadors, they say that to open the borders, there should at least be no state of emergency indicated next to the name of the Republic of Armenia. The state of emergency means that there is no need to deal with that country yet. Many countries, where the pandemic is in a much worse situation, do not have a declared state of emergency. In our opinion, the first month of the state of emergency was extremely necessary, after which it should have been lifted, and the situation should have been maintained under other anti-epidemic regulations. In that case, our economy and external communications should have been kept at the lowest possible level, because we know how dependent we are on CIS countries, and if 5,000 people had come to the country during this period, not arriving by plane, it would have had a positive impact on our economy. The reasons mentioned regarding Georgia, I can say, that it would have been possible to negotiate all of this with Georgia,' Marukyan added.

Marukyan addressed the impending deepening of the economic crisis, stating that the current authorities will not be able to manage the crisis either. He mentioned that in anticipation of the expected economic crisis, the entire economic block of the government should be changed. 'Our solution is that the entire economic block of the government should be changed, which we have been saying for two years now. I have a speech in which I say that Mr. Prime Minister should free himself from the second echelon personnel of Serzh Sargsyan. Can you imagine that those who were in the second row are now the first figures in the government and Prime Minister Pashinyan's economic block? Naturally, they will ruin everything. That is, they are ruiners, and the Prime Minister does not understand the economy, and everything will collapse. The Prime Minister should at least remain involved in political decisions, say I am not interfering, bring in people who understand the economy, free the first echelon, and arrange those people there to deal with the economy,' Marukyan stated.