Member-only story
A Hot Georgian Summer?
So it happened. The Georgian Parliament overrode the presidential veto, as was expected. This law will come into effect in two months. So the clock is now on for Georgians to pressure the government to take another path:
The Georgian Parliament lifted the president’s veto on the law on foreign agents.
84 deputies from the ruling majority supported the law in its original form.
After overcoming the veto, the law will again be sent to the president for signature. If Zurabishvili does not sign it again, then the right to sign passes to the Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili. After publication on the website of the legislative bulletin, the law will come into force — but foreign agents will not be registered immediately. First, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice must develop reporting forms and create a Register of organizations expressing the interests of a foreign power.
The only legal mechanism to stop the operation of the law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” after it comes into force is a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court.
This is how unrepresentative of the will of Georgians this law is.