Parliament Speaker: "Adoption of anti-discrimination law is about choice between Europe and Russia'

Head of the Georgian Parliament has spoken out about the anti-discrimination draft law currently being debated in Parliament.

"Accordingly the question today is as follows: Are we moving towards Europe and recognize that we should not reduce a human being if we are not sharing his views, or we stay inside Russia. The choice has to be made by Parliament and the country and everyone has to decide together," Usupashvili said.

Parliament Speaker Davit Usupashvili said an interim variant of the draft law, currently being discussed at its secondary hearing in parliament, would be presented in Parliament today.  

He said all interested parties had been included closely in the discussions and among them was the Patriarch's Office, who asked to postphone the adoption of the law.  

"It is possible that there is not absolute consensus about this issue however Parliament members take pride in the political success of the country no less than anybody else," Usupashvili said adding he believed his colleagues would make the appropriate and necessary decision to benefit the country. 

The anti-discrimination draft law passed in Parliament with first hearing when the Patriach’s Office of Georgia issued a statement asking Parliament to postpone adopting the law.

Meanwhile, dozens of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) called on the Government to make the law more effective and provide more precise explanations for what discrimination signs were.