Public rally in support of bill on transparency of foreign influence underway in Tbilisi

A public rally in support of the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence, organised by the ruling Georgian Dream party, has launched outside the Parliament in the capital city of Tbilisi.

Announced by the ruling party last week, the rally has been promoted by organisers as being held to “say yes to transparency”, amid ongoing protests against the reintroduced bill which calls for the 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.

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday highlighted the “importance” for the public to “stand together” ahead of the gathering.

It is a time to stand together and defend your choices, to assess your past life and struggle, express your faith in tomorrow, preserve what is dear and cherished by you, express your love and solidarity towards those with whom you are united by one word - homeland”, he said.

In its announcement last week, the party also called on “patriotic fellow citizens” to “reject dark money funding of a revolution in Georgia, attacks on the Orthodox Church, political intervention with religious motives, LGBT propaganda, drug propaganda, discrediting of state institutions, radicalism and the so-called polarisation of the domestic political environment together”.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said “tens of thousands” of supporters of the ruling party “from all fields” would gather in Tbilisi, adding the public would “see how much support there is for the ruling team” in the demonstration. He also claimed a “campaign of abuse” against supporters of the party had been launched by the “radical” domestic opposition following the announcement.

The PM claimed the “Georgian public supports the transparency of NGOs” and added it “does not  support the aims of domestic radical opposition”.