The ruling Georgian Dream party wants to re-pass a law against non-governmental organizations. The opposition threatens protests.

The opposition wants to continue fighting against the “agents” law Photo: Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters

SEDAN taz | Georgia's ruling party Georgian Dream (KO) sharpens its knives almost seven months before the parliamentary elections: on Wednesday, the leader of the KO parliamentary group, Mamuka Mdinaradze, announced that he would reintroduce a bill on “foreign agents” . This will be the same as last year. However, foreign-funded organizations would now be described as representing the interests of a foreign state. The previous version mentioned agents of foreign influence.

Mdinaradze opened his appearance with a broadside against Georgian civil society. The so-called civil sector is the most opaque area in Georgia; civil society donors finance extremism. Some organizations that received foreign funding alongside radical opposition parties posed a risk of radicalization and remained a source of polarization in Georgia. The law requires organizations to submit an annual financial report. Violations would be punished with financial sanctions. According to Mdinaradze, the three readings of the law should take place at the end of June.

Apparently there are some gaps in the short-term memory of Mdinaradze and his party comrades. In March last year, the KO for the first time introduced a “law on transparency of foreign influence.” The similarities with a Russian regulation from 2012 cannot be overlooked. This has since been tightened several times and has significantly contributed to the fact that Russian civil society is practically dead.

Fears among Georgian civil society and opposition parties that a similar event would occur led thousands of people to take to the streets in Tbilisi and other cities against the law, despite the use of tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons by the police.

Abandoned projects

A few days later, the government abandoned the plan. This success for the government's critics probably also influenced the EU's decision to grant the South Caucasus republic accession candidate status in December 2023.

But it is evident that the Government has gone into combat mode towards Brussels. In March, the KO announced an anti-LGBTQ+ law along with corresponding constitutional changes. Consequently, any queer “propaganda” should be punished in the future in the same way as public demonstrations or publications that promote same-sex families or intimate relationships. Gender reassignment should no longer be possible. This week, the KO added: He wants to support changes to the electoral law, according to which gender quotas should no longer apply to party electoral lists.

Regarding the “agents” law, the opposition is preparing for new disputes. “We cannot accept this law. “I call on everyone who wants this country to be part of Europe to arm themselves and prepare for major unrest and conflict,” the news portal quotes. Jam.news the politician Aleko Elisashvili, from the opposition Citizens Party. “This Russian law should not be passed in Georgia.”