Tbilisi: The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze said that till date one hundred fifty organizations have registered themselves under foreign agent law.
According to him this shows that the project was adopted to bring transparency instead of targeting any particular organization.
According to the Prime Minister a large number of Non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations are getting themselves registered under the foreign agent law, which shows that the law has no ill motive to target any particular organization.
According to the PM the government’s only objective was to bring transparency. He also made clear that the opposition to the foreign agent’s law was false propaganda.
Moreover registration under the law does not threaten the openness of any organization. The registration of 150 organizations shows that the organizations working with transparency are no longer threatened for their work.
On the other hand, the organizations that have not registered so far may have something to hide. If you are not registering yourself under foreign agents’ law, this means your intention is not pure. It also means that with foreign aid, you are pursuing the agenda of foreign powers.
According to him transparency has been defined as the “fundamental European principle.” I would like to urge every organization to work round the clock for transparency.
It is worth noting that the foreign agent law created a lot of controversy in Georgia. There were large-scale protests throughout the country. The capital Tbilisi, also faced the heat of the protestors who were demanding the repeal of the law.
As per the provisions of the Foreign Agents Law, organizations that receive more than twenty percent of their funding from any foreign country must register themselves under Foreign Agents Law.
The PM also expressed hopes that the false information spread by the opposition parties on behalf of fringe elements makes the situation tense.
There is also a provision for the fine. If any organization intentionally fails to register, he will be fined with the input of ₾25,000 ($9,192) and registered unilaterally.
