Ukraine’s Health Ministry Wants A State of Emergency. Opposition MPs Disagree
Ilya Yemets, Ukraine’s Minister of Health, has called on MPs to vote for implementing a state of emergency in Ukraine, reports the Ministry of Health on March 23. But opposition party Golos, formerly led by rock star—turned—politician Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, say that they are against this decision.
Ilya Yemets, Ukraine’s Minister of Health, has called on MPs to vote for implementing a state of emergency in Ukraine, reports the Ministry of Health on March 23. But opposition party Golos, formerly led by rock star-turned-politician Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, say that they are against this decision.
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Golos’ press secretary Yarema Dukh, citing Golos chairman Yaroslav Zheleznyak, says that his party does not agree with any decision to implement a state of emergency in Ukraine due to the coronavirus. Dukh added that a state of emergency was raised during a recent meeting with parliamentary leadership, and that most of Golos’ MPs spoke out against the decision.
Many Ukrainian regions and cities, including the capital of Kyiv, are already in an emergency situation, but implementing a state of emergency would give the government the ability to take its preventative measures a step further.
However, speaking on a recent airing of the Weekly Wrap-Up, lawyer Eugene Krapyvin said that is a state of emergency is declared, things won’t change much from the preventative measures in place now.
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“[A state of emergency] would not change things a lot. Because what we now have is some sort of quasi-state of emergency. So the measures already adopted and established by the government are partly a de facto state of emergency,” Krapyvin commented.