The SDSM led Government has focused its response to the coronavirus toward the public relations needs, and is failing to adopt significant measures needed to protect the country and the economy, said opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski, after the Government refused to discuss the series of proposals VMRO publicly made. Mickoski said that this is no time for demanding accountability and that all must stand together and face the crisis, but added that there is no excuse to ignore the proposals from the opposition.

They came up with PR slogans, but we lack meaningful measures. We ask the Government to come to reason, accept our offered hand and adopts the measures we are proposing. They are necessary and very urgent. This mustn’t turn into a race for scoring points. The stakes are enormous, Mickoski said.

The opposition party proposed making basic safety devices such as masks available free of charge to the citizens, especially in light of the attempts at price gouging and hoarding.

The Government needs to name the company that is profiteering from this situation, and pays no attention to the public health needs and if they don’t, VMRO-DPMNE will do so, Mickoski said.

He reiterated that the opposition is not calling for criminal accountability right now, given the need to stop the further spread of the virus.

Once the situation is overcome, then we will discuss the issue of accountability and of who was profiteering from this, and we will present our evidence. Right now you will not hear me call for accountability from Venko Filipce, Oliver Spasovski or Zoran Zaev. Now we must stand shoulder to shoulder and work to protect our citizens, Mickoski said.

The opposition party is also proposing that urgent measures are taken to shield the economy from the consequences of the epidemic. This would include direct financial aid to the worst affected companies and postponing the payment of mortgages, loans and other dues for a month.