Ulaanbaatar
President calls for measures to overcome coronavirus crisis
Politics
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On March 25, President of Mongolia Kh.Battulga issued an address to the people of Mongolia, in which he expressed his concerns over the economic and business impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
“Our nation must be prepared to deal with the imminent crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic and implement comprehensive measures to overcome it with minimum losses. Therefore, as the President of Mongolia, I recommend to take six following measures.
First, to make changes to the 2020 state budget to cut back on non-essential spending and expenses for upcoming elections to make more money available for coronavirus-related measures.
Second, to postpone the 2020 Parliamentary elections scheduled on June 24 to save on election expenses.
Third, to establish ‘Anti-Crisis Fund’ to provide support for factories, small and medium enterprises and self-employed people who are most-affected by the coronavirus crisis and develop rules and regulations for the fund’s spending.
Fourth, to develop action plan to maintain the standard of living for the people, especially the children, reduce unemployment, mitigate its consequences and ensure an uninterrupted supply of basic necessities.
Fifth, to hold discussion of National Security Council on this matter, and establish a small but competent commission (committee) of scholars and experts to prepare and overcome the crisis, and to develop its work plan and schedule.
Sixth, to centralize public administration during crisis situations. Under any circumstances, this does not imply an endorsement for dictatorship, but it is an inevitable step to take."
Emphasizing that he did not intend to intimidate the people using the crisis, the President called for the people to remain disciplined, organized and be in solidarity under centralized administration to get past the current hardships.
In his address, President Battulga also briefly criticized election platforms of political parties to participate in the legislative elections, promising a large amount of money to the people, as groundless lies, and advised the political parties to develop plan designed for the political and economic crisis, augmented by the coronavirus.
