President vows to veto bill on transparency of foreign influence if approved
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili says the bill would distance Georgia from Europe. Photo: President’s press office
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Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Tuesday pledged to veto the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence, proposed by the People’s Power movement, if the draft law is approved by the country’s legislative body.
In her comments for the media during a gender equality political forum in Tbilisi, the President said the bill, submitted to the Parliament earlier this month, was “unacceptable” for her as it would “distance Georgia from Europe”.
Proposed by the movement, whose representatives remain in the Parliamentary majority despite having left the ruling party last year, 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”.
It has been met by a strong criticism from the domestic opposition, a part of the public and diplomatic representations in Georgia, with the backlash labelling the initiative as “incompatible with the basic principles of a modern democratic state”.
People's Power claims their bill has become a “target of unjustified criticism”. Photo: People's Power press office.
In her comments on the bill on Monday, the United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan said “these laws seem to be clearly in line with Russian law” that could “undermine that progress that Georgia has spent so many years building”.
The diplomat added the bill “aimed at blocking Georgians who are helping other Georgians”.
Ruling party officials have said they agree with the bill in principle, adding the legislative piece is “in full accordance with democratic standards”.
Authorities have forwarded two versions of the bill in question to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe for opinion, with Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling party in the Parliament, on Tuesday saying there “could be no arguments from anyone” against the draft law.
People’s Power has claimed one of the versions of the bill is an “analogue” of a bill used in the United States, and labelled the American counterpart as being “very strict” in its regulations. Members of the movement and ruling team officials have claimed the other version is a “less strict” option that is “only [about] transparency”.
People's Power, a public movement established by former ruling Georgian Dream party MPs who exited the team in June, on Wednesday called on the United States’ Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan to deny or confirm Ukrainian diplomat Andriy Kasyanov’s claims on an arms exchange request between his country, the US and 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.
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”.
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 former members of the ruling Georgian Dream party - on Wednesday said it was “impossible that what is good for American democracy turns out bad for Georgia”, in comments on the proposed controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence.
Anri Okhanashvili, the Chair of the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, on Wednesday said the topic of the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence should be open for discussion.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday discussed the bill on transparency of foreign influence with Paweł Herczyński, the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia and ambassadors of the EU member states, the Parliament press office said.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday commented on the controversy around the proposed bill on transparency of foreign influence by saying a similar law working well in the United States meant the law would also function in Georgia if approved.
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.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday said “many non-government organisations” in the country were “directly fighting against state interests” using foreign funding, in comments on the controversial bill for registering non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “agents of foreign influence” if they derive more than 20 percent of their income from abroad.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said consultations were in progress between the Government and the country’s European and American partners to “prevent funding extremism, polarised political environment and a revolution” in the country through foreign sources.