Azerbaijani way of Georgian democracy

Baku/07.03.23/Turan: President Salome Zurabishvili, speaking at the UN on March 7 at the political forum for gender equality, confirmed that she categorically opposes the planned adoption of the law on foreign agents in Georgia.

"The bill submitted by some groups in my country, which restricts the freedom of non-governmental organizations, will be extremely harmful for the democratic transformation of our society," the politician said.

Before traveling to the United States, the Georgian President said that if the law was passed, she would veto it.

A fierce political struggle has unfolded in Georgia between supporters and opponents of the new law. A day earlier in the Parliament of Georgia, deputies fought, opponents of the Ivanishvili's Party  - "Georgian dream" accuse the deputies from the government of introducing a copy of the Russian law "On Foreign Agents" in the country.

The essence of the expected innovations is that with the adoption of the law, non-governmental organizations and the media, whose budget consists of at least 20% of foreign capital, will receive the status of a "foreign agent". If the bill is passed, "agents of foreign influence" will have to register in January of each year. Large fines will follow for evading registration and submitting incorrect data. The new bill provides for up to five years of imprisonment for non-compliance with its requirements. Georgian opponents claim that by adopting this law, the ruling power wants to protect itself from criticism in the next Presidential election. The new law will also affect individuals associated with NGOs - foreign agents.

In turn, the authors of the Georgian legislative initiative claim that their project has nothing in common with the Russian law. According to the deputies, they took the US Law on Registration of Foreign Agents (FARA) as a basis. They emphasize that the Georgian version is much softer than the original. Nevertheless, the US State Department said that Washington is deeply concerned about the possible consequences of this bill for freedom of speech and democracy in Georgia. The question is that the American Foreign Agents Registration Act does not apply to media and NGOs.

In fact, two versions of one and the same bill are being discussed in the Georgian parliament, one resembles the American counterpart, the second is copied, as claimed by the opposition, from the Russian law.

Georgia does not compare the bill with Azerbaijani legislation, probably because we are neighbors, and the laws of Azerbaijan cannot be an example for Georgian deputies.

There is no "Law on Foreign Agents" in Azerbaijan. Since 2014, amendments and additions to the Laws "On Non-governmental  Organizations (Public Associations and Foundations)" and "On Grants" have been in effect in our country. The work performed by NGOs and related services  at the expense of external financial sources should be carried out on the basis of contracts that must be registered with the Ministry of Justice. NGOs that perform work and provide services without registering contracts are administratively liable. Besides, in order to obtain the right to grant grants, it is necessary to have a conclusion of an executive authority on the financial and economic feasibility of the grant. At that, the procedure for obtaining the right of donors to grant grants is specified by the government, which also determines the procedure for registering grants.

Presenting the amendments above to the press, Fuad Aleskerov, head of the department for work with law enforcement agencies of the Presidential administration, said that the amendments to the legislation on the activities of NGOs "aim to ensure transparency in this area." To his thinking, local representative offices of international NGOs often act in violation of the country's legislation. "In some cases, foreign donors purposefully finance certain structures, directing their illegal anti-government activities that grossly violate stability," Fuad Aleskerov noted in his article.

It is worth recaling that since 2014, the civil society has been destroyed in Azerbaijan, deprived of the possibility of foreign funding, and not received assistance within the country. Executive director of the Republican Alternative Movement (ReAl), Natig Jasfarli regarded the amendments that came into force at that time as an attempt to "destroy the foundation of civil society".

It may be argued that Georgia has turned to the Azerbaijani path in its democratic development, but let's remember an essential difference: President S. Zurabishvili will veto the new order in Georgia. And in Azerbaijan, President I. Aliyev himself is the chairman of the ruling party, which voted in the Parliament for the amendments.

On June 23, 2022, for the first time since her tenure, Zurabishvili used the right of veto and blocked a bill that expanded the powers of law enforcement officers to monitor. However, the Georgian Parliament has the ability to 'override the Presidential veto' by a special vote of the constitutionally determined number of votes against the veto. In the Georgian Parliament, the ruling party is represented by enough deputies to block the presidential veto.

This bill hinders Georgia's integration into the European Union, the EU external relations service said. The UN fears that the law will interfere with its work in Georgia. "This law is an example of why we are talking about the decline of democracy in Georgia," said U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen. The bill is actively criticized by the United States of America. "The proposed law will stigmatize and silence the independent voices of Georgian citizens who are committed to building a better future for their community," State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing in Washington.-0-