Tbilisi: An official of the Georgian Parliament, Givi Mikanadze has accused organization that are demanding the repeal of the foreign agent law for lack of transparency. Givi Mikanadze is Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Education, Science, and Youth Affairs Committee.
His statements came on Monday in which he said that only 21 out of the total 121 organizations demanding the repeal of foreign agents have observed the “minimum standard for transparency.” He also said this is a clear example of how badly the country’s NGO are not following the laws. The fact also shows how much reform in the public sector is required.
Notably after the President’s move to file a lawsuit in the constitutional court against the foreign agent law many others followed suit. NGOs and Media houses across the country filed lawsuits in the constitutional court and demanded that the foreign agent law be repealed. Givi Mikanadze stated it is shocking to see that the organizations that themselves lack transparency are moving to court to repeal the law, which was introduced to bring more transparency in the working of NGOs and other media houses.
Mikanadze accusing these institutions said that some of the groups had “very vague information”. They did not disclose clearly the grants and donors of their grants from foreign countries. As mentioned about 21 out of the total 121 organizations follow the transparency law which means only 17 percent of the organizations are working as per the law and have a clear record of the funding and grants they are receiving from foreign countries.
Notably the reintroduction of the foreign agent’s law had erupted a large-scale controversy across the country. The large-scale protests were held across the country including the capital city Tbilisi. The protestors were also joined by the leaders of the opposition parties. The police have cracked a whip on the protestors. Many countries from Europe and other parts of the world have criticized the government of Georgia for using violent methods against the protesters.
