Instead of being transparent about the economic crisis, the president is, in the manner of an unaccountable manager incapable of long-term planning, trying to do the same with less.
Despite years of state pressure, civic groups are providing services for those in need and showing the effectiveness of social engagement, solidarity and selflessness.
Critics are exasperated by the government’s passivity, warning that the reforms needed for Tajikistan to weather this moment should have been adopted “the day before yesterday.”
The government is betraying signs of not knowing quite how to run a state of emergency – especially one instated to defend a population against an invisible virus.
There are worries that election observers from Armenia – which has been relatively hard-hit by the COVID-19 outbreak – could bring the virus into Karabakh.