On 19 March, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev congratulated the people of his country during Novruz holiday.

In his public speech, Aliyev outlined the major political and economic achievements of his government so far. The majority of his speech was focused on the current global situation derived from the pandemic caused by the novel Coronavirus and the creation of a new fund from the Azerbaijani government to combat it. 

“Our main goal is to prevent the spread of the disease in Azerbaijan. To achieve this, measures taken by the state alone are not enough. The state does everything necessary and allocates funds. In early March 10 million manats were allocated to combat this disease. I declare that today, an additional 20 million manats will be allocated from the President’s Contingency Fund both to enhance the effectiveness of the fight against this disease and to further increase material support of the doctors providing services to patients with coronavirus,” Aliyev said.

Another measure which was undertaken by Aliyev’s government was the adoption of amendments to the country’s criminal code. According to the law, if someone is in violation of anti-epidemics regulations, sanitary, hygiene, and quarantine law  and causes the spread of diseases or establish real threat for spread of the diseases, a fine in the amount of AZN 2500- 5 thousand or restriction of freedom up to 3 years, or imprisonment up to 3 years will be applied. If the same actions cause death of a person or other serious consequences, restriction of freedom for 3-5 years and imprisonment of 3-5 years will be applied. 

Aliyev also spoke that in these dire times his government still faces "enemies from the inside" and that a state of emergency in the country is not excluded.

 “Unfortunately, we are receiving information about facts related to irresponsibility. At the same time, we see open provocations. Where do these provocations come from? From the very fifth column, from the enemies who are among us, the elements calling themselves opposition, the traitors who receive money from abroad. Their main goal is to destroy Azerbaijan. The worse for Azerbaijan, the better for them. Look at their addresses on social networks, they are full of hatred and provocation. They seem to want riots to happen. They want turmoil. They want panic. And then they claim that they care about the Azerbaijani people. They are our enemies, and we must openly state this. It is not known what this disease will lead to. Therefore, during the existence of the disease, the rules of completely new relationships will apply. Let everyone know this. It is possible that a state of emergency may be declared at some point. In this case, the isolation of representatives of the fifth column will become a historical necessity. The Azerbaijani people have long thrown them into the dustbin of history, and they have been there for almost 30 years now. But we cannot allow the anti-Azerbaijani forces, the fifth column and national traitors to take advantage of this situation to commit various provocations. Let everyone know it. Our policy is unequivocal and we have a strong will,” he highlighted.

The opposition criticized Aliyev for his statement. “The fifth column” should be sought not in the opposition, but in the team of authorities,” said the head of the Musavat party Arif Hajili. The deputy chair of the Popular Front Party, Seymour Khazi, also criticized Aliyev’s statement, noting that the accusations against the opposition are unfounded.

The number of infected persons in Azerbaijan is at 33.