Tbilisi: Salome Zourabichvili the President of Georgia on Sunday again repeated her earlier stand on the foreign agent bill. She again reiterated to use her veto power against the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence.
The president was addressing the media representative and stated that she would not give her assent to approve the controversial bill being opposed at a large scale by the protestors. Moreover, she will use her veto power. In the recent statement of Prime Minister Kobakhidze’s attempt to introduce changes in the initiated version of the bill within the veto procedure she said this would create confusion.
According to President the the bill must be sent back for a second reading. The views of the protestors and other opposing parties must be considered as well. According the the President if possible the implementation should be deferred for some later date. The new government after the October election will have the option to decide the future of the Bill.
Speaking about yesterday’s rally President commented “This has shown that the country will not let this law pass if it could put the Europan integration of Georgia in Question. Moreover, the people proved that their future safe with Europe.”
It is to be specifically noted that the protesters of the bill announced an overnight stay at the entry point of the Parliament building on Sunday night. They announced not to allow the MPs to enter the legislative body and discuss the transparency bill in the third reading scheduled for Monday.
The president also urged both sides to use maximum restraint to avoid any untoward incident. She asked the state machinery to use minimum force only in extreme situations.
This controversial law calls for the registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country if are receiving more than 20 per cent of their funding from a foreign country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power.”
