In the realm of ongoing protests since the beginning of April after the Georgian government re-introduced the bill “On Transparency of Foreign Influence,” the bill on “foreign agents” was passed in its first reading in the Georgian parliament on May 17, with 83 votes in favor and none against.
On April 22, the ruling party Georgian Dream announced that it would “take into account the request of our supporters,” and would therefore hold a public gathering in front of the Parliament of Georgia on the following Monday, April 29 .
In the same announcement, the ruling party claimed that the radical opposition has managed to mislead only a small portion of Georgian citizens, asserting, “It is evident that the multi-million dollar investment aimed at bolstering the radical opposition by Kezerashvili, Khazaradze, and unscrupulous donors from wealthy NGOs did not yield the desired results.”In about a week, the representatives of GD were able to mobilize as many as 98,000 citizens in Tbilisi, including individuals from both the capital and regions of Georgia.
On April 29, Rustaveli Avenue, the main street of Tbilisi, was crowded with buses and minibusses, also known as marshrutkas.
It was reported that the Georgian Dream had hired public transport to bring citizens from different regions of Georgia to demonstrate their support.
It’s notable that the vast majority of attendees were civil servants and employees of local self-governments. While some of them couldn’t answer the question of precisely why and what kind of demonstration they were going to attend, some participants in the government-organized demonstration admitted in interviews that the ruling party had provided them with a certain amount of compensation to mobilize, gather, and attend the event, which took place in front of the Georgian Parliament building. This location is regularly used for protests against the “Russian Law.”
The founder and honorary chairman of the ruling party made a rare appearance. Following speeches by Tbilisi Mayor and Georgian Dream General Secretary Kakha Kaladze, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, former Prime Minister and current Chairman of the ruling party Irakli Gharibashvili, and another leader of the ruling party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, addressed the citizens.
The oligarch opened his speech by addressing the previous government’s “bloody regime,” labeling the Rose Revolution as orchestrated by NGOs. He insisted that the same foreign forces aspire to reinstate the cruel dictatorship of those individuals in Georgia, a prospect that they strongly oppose. Emphasizing the necessity of governance by authorities elected by the Georgian population, Ivanishvili stressed the importance of transparency in NGO funding to prevent external interference in Georgian politics. He defended recent legislative efforts on LGBT rights and NGO transparency, asserting their significance for national stability and sovereignty. However, he omitted any reference to the underlying reasons for these initiatives, in particular the bill “On Transparency of Foreign Influence,” which is linked to Russia’s recent approach towards the civil society sector.
Ivanishvili’s speech was notable for the absence of any direct mention of Georgia’s northern neighbor and occupier, Russia, as an enemy. Instead, he highlighted that the “global war party” was responsible for provoking Georgia’s confrontation with Russia in 2008, attributing it as the instigator of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. The Honorary Chairman of GD continued, stating, “Despite the promise made at the Bucharest Summit in 2008, Georgia and Ukraine were not allowed to join NATO and were left outside. All such decisions are made by the Global War Party, which has a decisive influence on NATO and the European Union and which only sees Georgia and Ukraine as cannon fodder.” In his speech, Ivanishvili underlined that the processes in the European Parliament are driven by the “Global War Party” – The “Global War Party forced the European Parliament to support a completely un-European resolution.”
Ivanishvili underscored that the reason why the “Foreign Agents Law” was withdrawn during its second hearing last year (2023) was that “The UNM and its masters” were able to mislead a large part of the citizens, and the government ensured political stability in the country. However, this year (2024), “the majority of the public firmly supports the transparency of NGOs,” so the leader of the ruling party claims that they “have full resources to pass the law on transparency without harming the stability of the state and to move the country forward.”
REACTIONS:
President Salome Zourabichvili, in her post on X, referred to the ruling party’s organized demonstration as “Putintype,” stating: “Today, a ‘Putintype’ action: civil servants ‘bused’ to Tbilisi to applaud ruling party’s decisions.”
57 diplomats have collectively issued a joint statement, declaring: “The cascade of decisions made by “Georgian Dream” has clearly turned the country’s foreign course by 180 degrees. Today, the government of Georgia claims that it is not ready for the European Union, adopts laws that directly contradict the course chosen by Georgia, the will of the absolute majority of the population and international obligations.”
Michael Roth, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag highlighted that “The Georgian Oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili sounds like Putin‘s spokesperson but not like a committed European.”
The member of the European Parliament Miriam M. Lexmann evaluated the statements of Ivanishvili as “shameful” and as “attempts to wreck Georgia’s democracy & European aspiration”.
Rasa Juknevičienė, MP of the European Parliament, shared the video of protesters with an EU flag being targeted with water cannons and wrote: “The masks have come off—Ivanishvili has revealed his opposition to Georgia’s European direction, showing his true colors.”
Andrius Kubilius, Member of the European Parliament, also commented on the ongoing events and Ivanishvil’s speech: “The same path is followed by Putin, Lukashenko, and Ivanishvili: first-brutal force against peaceful demonstrations, then the establishment of a dictatorship against the democratic future of a country.”