May 21, 2024
Georgia: NGOs vs. The People
Georgia: NGOs vs. The People
Democracy is about transparency, except when it isn't. Sometimes transparency means autocracy, at least to western states and media
Niccolo Soldo
You are probably aware that the Republic of Georgia has been in the news for the past month or so because there has been a wave of anti-government protests taking place in the capital, Tbilisi. You also might be aware that the issue that has sparked these protests is legislation tabled by the government which western media has chosen to refer to as a “Russian law”. The fact that you are reading this right now means that you have a healthy distrust of mainstream media and know better than to accept their narrative….and you would be right to be, yet again, skeptical.
The actual story here is one in which western media chooses to rely on the lazy trope of “Russian interference” and widespread disinterest in the country in which it is happening. In short, they seek to “pull a fast one” on westerners whose attention is much more focused on Ukraine and Gaza for the time being. You cannot blame people for not being news junkies like all of us here are, but this creates an opening for mainstream media to craft a story that is very, very far from the truth.
The proposed “Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence” would require NGOs operating in the country to register as either “organizations carrying the interests of a foreign power” or as “agents of foreign influence” if at least 20% of their overall funding comes from abroad. It would also compel them to provide information on their funding to Georgian authorities. This is the entire issue around which these protests are taking place, as protesters are determined to reject transparency for NGOs that receive funding from foreign countries. That’s it. That’s all there is to this.
You would think that this bill would be a no-brainer as most people are not exactly fond of foreign countries/institutions/businesses/etc. having an outsized say in their own country’s internal affairs. You would think that transparency should be welcomed in a democracy. After all, we are constantly bombarded with the notion that transparency is vital to any democracy.
Instead, you have charges that Georgia is “sliding towards autocracy”, and that adopting the bill would “create an atmosphere of mistrust, fear, and hostility”. Human Rights Watch demands that the bill be withdrawn, arguing that its passage into law would result in:
Many have already detailed how the bill is a transparent attempt to control, stigmatize and limit the influence of independent media and civil society.We believe it would also do severe damage to workers’ rights. Trade unions are considered NGOs under Georgian law and would thus be affected by the bill if they receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign sources.
Their goal is not transparency; it is to attack our basic rights and silence critical organizations that speak out against abuses and injustice.
In the greatest of ironies, an NGO called “Transparency International” is denouncing the bill that demands transparency for foreign-funded NGOs, going as far as to call it a “Russian law”:
For weeks, civil society has been explaining in detail why the Russian law is unconstitutional, the end of Georgian democracy, and deliberately damaging to the common national pursuit of integration into the European Union. However, no one could convince the public about the harmful consequences of the Russian law better than the government's statements yesterday.
The government has openly stated that by adopting the Russian law, they plan to start repression against the people. They declared their will for election rigging, censorship, and a Soviet-style totalitarian regime. They stated that they see the West as the enemy, and did not even mention our occupier, Russia, in this context. Everyone clearly understood that the purpose of the adoption of the Russian law is not the notorious "transparency", but the change of the country's foreign course and the completion of Russification.
Today, the government is taking another step to pass this anti-constitutional law and is planning a plenary discussion of the second reading of the Russian law.
Therefore, we, the members and citizens of the civil society of this country:
We will oppose the attempt to pass the law in the second reading and we will once again show the government that betraying the Russian constitution and rejecting the European Union will never be the choice of the Georgian people.
We call on the political parties to fulfill their duty to the people and to fight even more firmly in the parliament against the Russian law.
We call on everyone, every citizen of Georgia, for whom the independence of the country, the constitution and the European path of Georgia are important, to gather in front of the parliament at 19:00.
We will monitor the actions of the government and we will act in accordance with the current situation, in accordance to the declared will of the Georgian people and to return the country to the constitutional framework.
Yes to Europe!
No to the Russian law!
Naturally, the Americans are threatening sanctions if the bill does become law:
U.S. officials threatened to sanction Georgian politicians due to the “foreign agent” bill approved on Tuesday, which they say would undermine democracy — while experts say Congress shares the blame for Tbilisi’s unrest.
………
Experts agreed on one course of action to stop the lawmakers from enacting the foreign agents bill: carefully targeted sanctions.
Sanctions that make it difficult for Georgians to travel outside of their country could be very effective, two of the experts said, since many wealthy politicians have children in European schools or second homes there.
Some senior people in the Georgian political-business elite with ties to Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili are worried about Western sanctions, said Thomas De Waal, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe. Former Georgian Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze was sanctioned by the U.S. last year for his close ties with Russia, and similar actions “could be a serious deterrent,” De Waal said.
A foreign power wants to punish a country for how it governs itself because that country wants transparency with respect to how foreign countries act to influence its own internal affairs. Let that sink in for a bit.
As it stands right now, the bill has been vetoed by the Georgian President, Salome Zourabichvili. Nevertheless, the ruling Georgian Dream Party has both the intent and ability to override her veto. Georgian Dream has sought to chart a more moderate course regarding Russia when compared to previous governments, leading to charges of being “pro-Russian” being levied against it. These charges are ridiculous, especially in light of Georgian Dream being the party that managed to secure EU candidate status for the country only a few months ago after years of failure by previous governments.
To accuse Georgian Dream of being “pro-Russian” is ridiculous, as anti-Russian sentiment is the norm across the country. Like many of its former subjects, Georgians are not fond of Russia nor Russians, and especially Vladimir Putin. Recall that large parts of Georgia have been detached from the country courtesy of ethnic groups that rebelled against Tbilisi and sought and received support from Moscow. The crime being committed by the Georgian Government in the eyes of the West is that being anti-Russian is not enough; you must also be pro-Western and adopt all the political, social, and cultural trends and mores that dominate the West today. If you don’t, you are “pro-Russian” despite being partially occupied by Russia and despite having an anti-Russian culture.