Parliament Committee Chair claims NGO funding ”directly related” to attempts to “set up revolutions, incite radicalism”
The Parliament official also claimed ongoing public protests against the bill in capital Tbilisi were “failing to reach their climax”. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chair of the Rules and Procedural Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, on Monday claimed the funding of domestic non-governmental organisations “directly related to politics” was being used to “set up revolutions” and “incite radicalism” in the country.
In his remarks over the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence, which calls for 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, Kadagishvili said the ruling Georgian Dream party was going to adopt the bill in its third hearing.
Transparency, which is the main flag of democracy [...] has turned out to be vulnerable in Georgia. It has turned out that the funding of NGOs directly related to politics is used to set up revolutions in the country, to incite radicalism. Therefore, they do not want to make it public”, he alleged.
The Parliament official also claimed ongoing public protests against the bill in capital Tbilisi were “failing to reach their climax”.
These protests are failing to reach their climax. Now they have started talking about the most important part of [Peter] Ackerman's [the late American specialist on civil resistance] agenda regarding the occurrence of a fatality. Of course, all this has been unmasked”, he alleged.
Kadagishvili stressed the Government and law enforcement agencies were “doing everything” to ensure a peaceful nature of the demonstrations and safety of the participants.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Friday said he had discussed the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence with Charles Michel, the President of the European Council.
Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, on Tuesday said the draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence “is not consistent with” Georgia’s European Union aspiration and its accession trajectory.
Georgia cherishes and safeguards relations with partner countries. By taking into consideration the main priority of our foreign policy - EU integration - cooperation with high-ranking officials of the United States of America, European Union and EU Member States, including the ambassadors and exchange of ideas is a profound priority for us. We value every supportive step and statement of current ambassadors that are directed at solidifying the international positions of Georgia. Thus, every grounded advice and recommendation will further be accepted with special attention and care.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday said the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence was “compatible with the European human rights standards does not restrict the freedom of association”, in response to comments by Michael O'Flaherty, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, who last week expressed concerns about the draft law.