Shalva Papuashvili, the speaker of the Parliament of Georgiac has called upon all the organizations for the registration. They have been asked to do so as per the provisions of foreign agent law adopted recently.
The Georgian speaker’s comment came just a day ago. As per the Speaker the Government has established a dedicated database for the registration of civil society and media organizations.
They are required to register themselves if they receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign countries. There was much controversy around the law. The organizations receiving much funding have to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power. This was criticised not just by opposition parties but also by nongovernmental organizations and civil society organizations.
The Speaker speaking specifically on the issue added, “ As the country has adopted the new transparency law, I would like to call upon all civil, commercial, and non-governmental organizations to register and be transparent with the Georgian people.”
The speaker added further that “ We know there are many organizations that received more than 20% of their funding from foreign countries. Moreover these organisations have much more to hide. These organizations go to any extent to hide their undisclosed funding. They even sometimes break the law to hide the illegal money from foreign countries.”
On the other hand the government official added that a properly compiled list of organizations registering themselves in the roster would be a “proper exercise to ensure timely transparency as well.
If any organization fails to register itself or tries to use unfair means, the law will show its true worth.” Meanwhile the speaker stated that “ there are some misconceptions that disclosing the source of funding will risk their reputation. However all of this allegation are baseless. Those who have filed the lawsuit against the foreign agent law need to await its ruling and its expected effects also.
