A Georgian Dream announces that it will replace a heavily criticized law that forces non-governmental organizations and media organizations to register as "organizations working for a foreign power's interests" if they receive at least one-fifth of their funding from abroad.
The introduction of the law in May last year sparked daily street protests, condemnations from the West, and a veto from the then-president, with critics accusing the government of targeting its opponents with regulations inspired by a Russian law used to suppress dissent.
"Foreign Funding"
Georgian Dream intends to replace the law with "an exact, word-for-word copy" of an American law that forces lobbyists and lawyers to declare if they work on behalf of foreign interests. Media organizations are, however, exempt in the American version.
The party does not provide any reason for the action but notes that it is acting after "recent scandals about the use of foreign funding for political unrest in Georgia" – formulations often used to accuse the Western world, without evidence, of financing a "revolution" in the country.
Political Turbulence
Tbilisi has been marked by political turbulence since Georgian Dream was declared the winner of the parliamentary election in October. The opposition, as well as the EU Parliament, has rejected the result, and the process has been followed by fraud suspicions, which have also led to widespread protests.
Hundreds of demonstrators, as well as several human rights activists, journalists, and politicians, have been arrested during the protests that followed the election.
