How urgent is the state of emergency that has been in place since April 1? What is the logic of the various security measures? Moldovans do not really seem to abide by these restrictions, and the moderators of episode 6 of the podcast “That’s the way it is!” - Victoria Coroban and Eugen Muravschi - are looking for answers from public health expert Ala Tocarciuc, and Vadim Pistrinciuc, sociologist, former deputy, former deputy minister of labor and social protection. Also, Irina Frunză, a member of the diaspora, tells us why things are different in Ireland, notes IPN.

Officially, we are in a state of emergency in its most “hardcore” version legally possible. But how justified is it, given that many of the restrictions have already been lifted?

“From a medical point of view, the state of emergency should have been introduced in February,” says Ala Tocarciuc. According to the expert, the introduction of the state of emergency accelerated the “descent from this mountain”, referring to the number of infections.

But before the current “state of emergency”, we had a “state of emergency in health” and many people wonder if the measures taken in the general state of emergency -  such as school closures or shorter hours for retail premises - could have been taken as part of the “state emergency in health” instead.

“I suppose so (...) Then again, I saw more communications on the economic side. So, I understood that this state of emergency (...) had this economic dimension as well - to offer the government some powers and rights that they would not have had without this state,” says Ala Tocarciuc.

Many are puzzled by the fact that, so far, the Government has only taken measures that it could have taken anyway, without the formality of a state of emergency.

Vadim Pistrinciuc explains: “What does a state of emergency mean? It is like a state of war and the Government has expanded powers, it has the right to approve laws outside the parliamentary procedure. My question is - which of the measures so far fall under this incidence? I'm telling you. None.” According to him, it would have been a different matter if the Government had used its expanded powers, for example, to redirect non-essential procurement towards the fight against the pandemic or to buy vaccines. “But the way it is (...) It is an eminently political decision.”

Even Igor Dodon acknowledged that the state of emergency is linked to political disputes between Parliament and the President’s Office. Later, acting prime minister Aureliu Ciocoi also stated that Parliament is exploiting the state of emergency merely for political gains.

The full podcast can be listened to online. The project is financed with the grant provided by Soros Foundation Moldova from the “Phase II COVID-19 Response” Reserve Fund for assisting the Republic of Moldova in fighting the spread of the novel coronavirus.