Ruling party to support bill on transparency of foreign influence
The legislation that envisages registration of “non-commercial legal entities and media outlets as agents of foreign influence if they derive more than 20 percent of their income from abroad” has been slammed by the domestic opposition as “incompatible with the basic principles of a modern democratic state”. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the ruling team would support the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence proposed by People's Power, a public movement established by former MPs of the party.
The legislation that envisages registration of “non-commercial legal entities and media outlets as agents of foreign influence if they derive more than 20 percent of their income from abroad” has been slammed by the domestic opposition as “incompatible with the basic principles of a modern democratic state”.
“On behalf of the Georgian Dream faction, I can say that we have agreed in principle [to] support the bill. Details will continue to be discussed”, Mdinaradze said.
The bill envisages only the requirement to register within 10 days. If the foreign funding of any organisation - not a private person - exceeds 20 percent, such an organisation has 10 days to register in the registry. Then, within one year, the declaration must be submitted. It does not consider anything else. It is impossible to give an argument why this principle can be rejected”, the GD official noted.
Mdinaradze stressed the proposed bill was not analogous to the Russian and American laws on foreign influence, and claimed the contrast was demonstrated by “a lot of restrictions” included in the foreign examples.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Monday refused to support the bill, by saying she “cannot support such legislation and persecution of new ‘agents’”.
A force has been set in motion, which, instead of strengthening Georgia's European path, considers another path to be Georgia's interest. The President of Georgia cannot support such legislation and the persecution of new ‘agents’”, the statement of the Presidential Administration said.
In her turn, the visiting American senator Jeanne Shaheen on Monday said the bill was “similar” to the Russian law, pointing out that the Hungarian Government had also adopted a similar law, with the decision shown to be incompatible with European Union standards.
[T]here has been a similar law passed by Hungary that has been struck down as being inconsistent with the EU’s values around human rights and this kind of transparency. So, I think this kind of a law is what I would be referring to when I talk about backsliding on democracy”, she asserted.
People's Power on Monday said the bill had become a “target of unjustified criticism”, and called comparisons with laws in the United States and Russia “categorically unacceptable”.
People's Power on Monday said the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence had become a “target of unjustified criticism”, and called comparisons with laws in the United States and Russia “categorically unacceptable” https://t.co/JpFX7as3sp
— Agenda Georgia (@AgendaGeorgia) February 20, 2023
The release by the movement said “unlike the American and Russian laws, the bill initiated by us is fully compatible with legal standards, including in terms of human rights”.
Members of the movement cited Georgia’s status as a small country facing “multifaceted interest and danger” against its sovereignty that “can come from the west and north, as well as from the south and east”, in their justification for the legislative initiative.
People's Power, a public movement established by former MPs of the ruling Georgian Dream party who exited the team last year, on Monday said the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence had become a “target of unjustified criticism”, and called comparisons with laws in the United States and Russia “categorically unacceptable”.
Sozar Subari, a member of People’s Power, a public movement composed of the former ruling Georgian Dream party MPs who exited the team in June, on Thursday said “all those” who wanted to “revive” the opposition United National Movement party and “bring it to power” had “realised” it was “impossible” to do so and “now switched to open struggle”.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Sunday said “all the crimes committed” by the United National Movement opposition party during their time in power were “secondary” to the European People's Party.
The statement by the European People's Party on Georgia shows the agenda of the United National Movement opposition party and a part of the opposition “absolutely diverges” from the interests of the country, Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, said on Wednesday.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence, proposed by People's Power, a public movement established by former members of the party, was in “full accordance” with human rights standards “unlike its American and Russian analogues”.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said “national interests” “came first” in the Government’s decisions on policy, adding the ruling team “should only serve the interests of Georgia”.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said there “could be no arguments from anyone” against the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence, which has been proposed by People's Power, a public movement established by former MPs of the party, and caused public controversy over the recent days.
Georgian police officers arrested 36 individuals, including reporters, on administrative offences during a public rally against the controversial domestic draft law on transparency of foreign influence late on Thursday outside the Parliament of Georgia in Tbilisi.