Ruling party official: restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity “most important thing”
The Legal Affairs Committee of the Georgian Parliament on Monday approved the bill in its third and final reading. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said ensuring restoration of the country’s territorial integrity was “the most important thing today”.
In his remarks over protest rallies against the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence, Kaladze claimed there were “reasonable people among the protesters” who “will be convinced [with time] that they stood in the rain for nothing” during the ongoing protests.
He added his comment was directed at the “reasonable individuals” and not “extremist groups” or “radical opposition youth” taking part in the ongoing events.
This energy and power should be used to reunify the country. Today, the most important thing is to restore territorial integrity, and I am confident that we can achieve this and also become a member of the European Union”, the party official concluded.
The Legal Affairs Committee of the Georgian Parliament on Monday approved the bill in its third and final reading.
The draft law 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.
Michael Roth, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag who is on a visit to Georgia, on Monday said he could not see a “chance for a bright future for Georgia” without the Government withdrawing a controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence that has sparked public protests in the country.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Monday said the party was “very grateful” to the country’s partners “for what they do for Georgia”, but added “we disapprove of what is non-transparent and hidden” in their actions.
The Special Investigation Service of Georgia on Monday said it had launched an investigation into alleged excessive use of force by law enforcement officers against participants of a public protest against the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence outside the Parliament in capital Tbilisi on Monday.
Anri Okhanashvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, on Monday said President Salome Zourabichvili’s anticipated veto on the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence would be overcome by the parliamentary majority if it was “formal” and placed “without arguments”.