Changes to broadcasting law approved

Parliament has adopted amendments to the "Law on Broadcasting” with 83 votes to 28 at its third and final hearing on May 2.

Changes to the law will see the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) become two-chambered. This means the current Board will remain within the broadcaster as a monitoring council and the new Board, which will be approved by the Parliament in the near future, will have control over all other functions.

The monitoring council will be eligible to provide the new Board with recommendations on different issues. The latter will have a 20 percent higher salary than the monitoring council.

The amendments were drawn up in a way that enabled the continuation of the GPB Board reformation, while an order of the Constitutional Court to keep the current Board was executed.

Current Board members were expected to be dismissed as the new Board was instated but the Constitutional Court upheld its lawsuit against Parliament.

The monitoring council will remain within the GPB until the end of its latest member’s term.