The former Soviet republic has for some time been rocked by protests over the proposed bill, which opponents have denounced as an analogue of similar repressive legislation in Russia, which Moscow has used to stifle critics and stifle independent media.
Protesters, mostly young people, are furious at the bill, saying it will destroy the Caucasus country’s hopes of joining the European Union and spell the end of democracy in the country.
The ruling Sakartvelo Dream party, which was forced to drop a similar bill last year due to massive public opposition, plans to pass the bill on Tuesday, arguing that it only aims to increase the transparency of foreign funding of civic groups.
If the law is passed, all independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and media organizations receiving more than 20 percent of funds from abroad, will have to register as an “organization acting in accordance with the interests of a foreign state”.
On Monday, MPs pushed the bill through the parliamentary legal committee in a matter of minutes.
Tens of thousands of people protested against the bill on Sunday, with some staying overnight to prevent ruling party MPs from entering the parliament building on Monday.
At dawn, reporters from the news agency AFP saw police arresting and beating a group of protesters.
Hundreds of riot police officers lined a small street outside parliament, some of them grappling with protesters.
The authorities warned that they would arrest people who blocked the parliament, but thousands of people ignored the warning and came to the gates of the building anyway.
Protests in Sakartvele are led by students of Tbilisi universities, who announced a strike on Monday.
“We plan to stay here as long as necessary,” 22-year-old Mariam Kalandadze told AFP.
“We know this scenario”
“This law means we will not join Europe,” she declared, adding that this was what she had wanted all her life.
Protesters accuse “Sakartvel’s dream” of lying when it says the country will join the EU.
They argue that the bill will bring Sakartvel closer to authoritarian Russia.
The proposed law is reminiscent of a repressive Russian law passed in 2012 used to silence dissent.
“If this law is passed, we will gradually become Russia. We know what happened there and in Belarus,” said 26-year-old Archil Svanidze.
“We know this scenario,” he added.
The face of the protests is the young generation of Sakartwell, many of them under 30 years old or fresh out of school.
However, most of them are supported by their parents and grandparents.
“We have always known that we are part of Europe. Every generation knows about it, not only Generation Z and Millennials,” said A. Svanidze, proudly adding that his father protested most of the night.
“If the law passes, we will leave”
Sakartvel’s Dream, in power since 2012, portrays the protesters as a violent mob and defends the law as necessary to ensure the country’s sovereignty.
In early April, Sakartvel Dream unexpectedly re-submitted a bill to parliament that had been abandoned a year earlier due to massive public opposition.
Since then, the chairman of the ruling party, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who amassed wealth in Russia, has declared non-governmental organizations an internal enemy, accusing them of working for foreign governments and plotting revolution.
Officials often accuse protesters and the opposition of ties to the previous government led by their opponent, Mikheil Saakashvili, who is currently in prison.
“It’s ironic that they always criticize the previous government as corrupt and brutal,” said 18-year-old Salome Lobdzhanidze, who missed university lectures on Monday to stand outside parliament.
She was six when the previous Sarkartwell government fell, and she said she was tired of the controversy.
S. Lobdjanidze, who came to the protest with a friend, said that the law “crushed” her.
“If the law is passed, most of the people standing here will leave [iš šalies]”, she told AFP.
The protests reflect perhaps the biggest internal turmoil over Sakartvel’s geopolitical fate in the country’s recent history.
Tags: Kartvelians continue protest parliament foreign agents bill
-
