The Georgian president vetoed the law recently voted on by parliament, defying months-long protests, the newspaper wrote. France24.
President Salome Zurubashvili said of the bill: “I vetoed the law today, which is fundamentally Russian and contradicts our constitution.”
The draft law stipulates that non-governmental organizations and media outlets that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad must register themselves as organizations that “follow the interests of a foreign power.”
According to the majority of the ruling party, the regulation serves the transparency of financing, but according to the protesters, it only means narrowing the scope of the public, the impossibility of civic organizations and, in practice, strengthening the power of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili's rule. The party – all of this is based on the Russian model, and Zhorubashvili also pointed this out. You can read more about the law and the protests in this article.
Despite the protests, lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream party voted in favor of the law in mid-May. This move sparked a wave of protests unprecedented in the modern history of the Black Sea state.
Opinion polls indicate that more than 80% of Georgia's population wants to join the European Union and NATO, and they are strongly anti-Kremlin. However, according to Brussels, this measure is “inconsistent” with Georgia's aspirations for EU membership, which are also included in the country's constitution.
At the same time, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze indicated that the German Communist Party is ready to consider the proposals for legislative amendment put forward by Zorubashvili, if the Prime Minister formulates them in his veto document.
But President Zurubashvili, who opposes the ruling party, ruled out entering into “false, artificial and misleading negotiations” with the Georgian Dream. His rejection probably will not have much significance, as the ruling party has enough lawmakers in Parliament to veto his decision.
The ruling party insists on its commitment to joining the European Union, and presents the draft law with the aim of increasing the transparency of funding for non-governmental organizations.
