Tbilisi: As expected the parliament has overridden the president’s veto and adopted the controversial foreign agent law. The parliament dominated by the Georgian Dream party gained 66 votes in favor of rejecting the veto.
Later on 84 MPs voted in favor of the bill paving the way for its implementation. On the other hand MPs from opposition parties left the parliament building before the voting in protest. The law often called Russian law by opponents was passed by the Georgian Dream-led government despite the USA’s threats of individual sanctions and Brussels’ warning that it could impede Georgia’s integration into the European Union.
According to the opponents of the law this will stifle independent media voices and return the country to Russian influence. Moreover it will also violate the fundamental right of freedom of expression. As per the legal provision the bill will now again be sent to the President for assent within a five-day time period. However as expected she can again veto the bill; in that scenario the speaker of Parliament who is the bill’s supporter can sign the bill to give it the force of law.
Notably despite the immediate implementation the key provision of law will not be implemented till the lapse of 60 days. In the next month after 60 days the receiver of foreign funding more than 20 percent of their total funding has to register themself as the institutions pursuing foreign interests. If an organization refuses to register the law authorizes the authorities to impose a heavy penalty and demand sensitive data from non-obeying institutions.
On the other hand concerns are being expressed that there could be economic chaos in the country following the announcement of sanctions from many countries. The National Bank of Georgia is already struggling to overcome the instability of Georgian Lari. Due to this fear many businessmen including those who supported the Georgian Dream Government opposed the law.
