2024-05-12 04:59:19
About 50,000 people walked through the streets of the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Saturday in a peaceful protest against the controversial draft law on foreign influence, which is promoted by the ruling Georgian Dream party. The Georgian parliament should vote on the standard, which is criticized by the Georgian opposition, the European Union and the United States, in the third reading as early as next week.
The goal of the march was Europe Square, the participants had the flags of Georgia and the European Union, writes AFP. Tbilisi says it is seeking EU membership despite enforcing a law very similar to Russia’s, which Moscow uses to suppress and intimidate the opposition.
The prospect of joining the European Community motivated some of the demonstrators to participate. Mariam Meunaržia said that she came to show “that our country is part of European society” and “has a European future”.
Some of the protesters pointed to the similarity of the draft law with Russian methods. There were slogans such as “No to Russian laws” or “No to Russian dictatorship”, Ukrainian flags were also visible.
“We don’t need to go back to the times of the Soviet Union,” explained 38-year-old Georgian teacher Lela Ciklauriová of her participation. She is convinced that “if the country approves the law, everything will get worse”.
The rally took place just a day after Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobachidze said the government intends to push through the law despite opposition from young people, whom he described as “deluded” and anti-Russian, writes Reuters.
The law, which, according to the Georgian Dream party, is supposed to ensure more transparent financing of non-governmental organizations, has already passed the first and second reading in the parliament, the final vote is expected in mid-May. The Georgian dream has enough votes to overcome the expected veto of President Salome Zourabishvili. According to critics, the drafters of the standard took as a model the Russian law, which helped the Kremlin suppress opposition and silence independent media.
For example, a proposal under consideration by the Georgian parliament requires organizations whose budget is more than a fifth financed from abroad to register as “organizations carrying the interests of a foreign power”.