Parliament Committee discussing remarks of President’s veto on transparency law

The Georgian Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee on Monday began discussions of remarks by President Salome Zourabichvili that were sent to the legislative body along with her veto on the law on transparency of foreign influence earlier this month. 

Giorgi Mskhiladze, the Parliamentary Secretary of the President, presented the remarks to members of the Committee, with Zourabichvili notes calling for a repeal of the law.

Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani earlier today urged the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has enough votes to overcome the veto, to refrain from doing so in a session on Tuesday.  

Opposition MPs also urged the ruling party not to override the Presidential veto, claiming the act would damage Georgia's relations with its international partners and negatively affect standards of democracy in the country.

In his response, Davit Matikashvili, the First Deputy Chair of Committee, claimed the President was an “ordinary radical oppositionist” who was “not concerned with the progress of the country” and was “driven only by her own interests” while presenting only a “torn piece of paper instead of real motivated remarks” against the law.

Zourabichvili vetoed the law that was reintroduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party against a backdrop of ongoing public protests and criticism from Georgia’s foreign partner states before its adoption by the Parliament.

The law requires registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.

The legislative piece was supported by 84 MPs in the 150-member lawmaking body, with 30 voting against it, earlier this month.