Georgia's ruling party on Monday bussed in thousands of people from across the country to a rally in the capital aimed at countering days of massive anti-government protests over a controversial “foreign influence” bill. Participated.
Publication of:
2 minutes
The Black Sea Caucasus country has been hit by large-scale anti-government protests since mid-April. The ruling Georgian Dream party has reintroduced plans to pass a law that critics say is similar to a Russian law used to silence opposition.
The European Union said the proposed law, if passed, would undermine Tbilisi's long-standing efforts to join the EU.
In the latest demonstration against the measures, around 20,000 people gathered in the capital Tbilisi on Sunday for the kilometer-long “March to Europe”.
Thousands of people gathered outside parliament on Monday night for a rally sponsored by the ruling party amid reports that government officials were being forced to attend.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who is at odds with the ruling party, said, “Today was a 'Putin-type' move. Civil servants went to Tbilisi by bus to praise the ruling party's decision.'' Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said on X (formerly Twitter).
Georgian television broadcast footage of people being taken to Tbilisi on Georgian Dream buses.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the ruling party chairman and powerful billionaire who rarely appears in public but is widely believed to be the decision-maker in Georgia, addressed the crowd. .
He defended the bill as aiming to increase the transparency of foreign funding to civil society organizations, saying, “opaque funding to NGOs is a key factor in foreign appointments to the Georgian government.'' It is a means.”
“I will lose my job.”
“I'm a soldier of Georgia's dreams. That's why I'm here,” gas station owner Mamuka Tsiskaridze, 56, told AFP. “I'm here to defend traditional values, the Christian faith.”
But another demonstrator, who declined to give his name, said he was opposed to the bill proposed by Georgian Dream.
“My village chief told me that if I don't go to Tbilisi (for the rally), I will lose my job,” he added.
Anti-government rallies were held on Monday in Batumi, the country's second city, and Zugdidi, the main city in Georgia's western Megrelia region, independent television station Pillveri reported.
Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee announced that Parliament will vote on the second reading of the bill in plenary session on Tuesday.
If passed, the law would require independent NGOs and news organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “organizations pursuing the interests of foreign powers.”
Last year, Georgian Dream was forced to scrap a similar bill after a series of anti-government demonstrations in which police used tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators.
Police also clashed with demonstrators at recent rallies.
Georgia's candidacy for EU and NATO membership is enshrined in the constitution and is supported by more than 80 percent of the population, according to opinion polls.
Georgian Dream claims that the bill is staunchly pro-European and that the proposed law is only aimed at “increasing transparency” of foreign funding to NGOs.
But critics accuse it of steering former Soviet republics into closer ties with Russia.
EU Prime Minister Charles Michel said the bill was “not consistent with Georgia's aspirations to join the EU” and said it “takes Georgia away from the EU, not closer to it.”
The EU granted Georgia official candidate status in December, but before accession negotiations could officially begin, Tbilisi has reformed its judicial and electoral systems, reduced political polarization and He said there was a need to improve press freedom and curb the power of oligarchies.
(AFP)
