Parliament’s Vice Speaker condemns US sanction

Giorgi Kakhiani, the deputy speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Georgia, hit back at United States of America’s government for imposing visa restrictions on members of ruling party “Georgian Dream”.

According to him, the US government has made a  “wrong decision” by imposing visa restrictions on members of the ruling Georgian Dream party. The imposition following the foreign agent law adoption is not reasonable as it was an internal matter of Georgia.

Kakhiani’s reaction came after the comment of Matthew Miller, the Spokesperson for the United States Department of State. The spokesperson announced a day ago the US Government’s decision to restrict visas on “dozens” of members of the ruling Georgian Dream party.  He further said that normalizing relations would be in the interest of both countries, but this action of the US government would greatly damage the cordial relations between the USA and Georgia.

He further added that this is a totally wrong decision by the USA government. The foreign agent law was not introduced to stifle the media’s voices; rather  it was introduced to bring transparency to the workings of NGOs and other civil society organizations that receive more than twenty percent of their funding from foreign countries.

“I don’t think this was the need of the hour; moreover  I think it was an unfair decision  considering that it was made in the framework of a strategic partnership. At the same time  against the backdrop of the long-standing storage relationship between both countries  such moves create a feeling of injustice even more,” he added.

It is worth noting that the foreign agent law was adopted after it was signed by the speaker of Parliament, who is authorized by Georgian law to sign the bill in case the president uses his/her veto power .

The controversial bill was supported by 84 MPs in the 150-member Parliament, whereas 30 members voted against its adoption. Large-scale protests were held in the capital city in front of the Parliament building. Protesters called for its withdrawal because it would stifle the independent media voices in the country.