Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday deemed the Venice Commission’s argumentation on the Draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence “weak legally and from all angles.” “To be more precise, there is no argumentation at all.”
In an interview with GPB’s ‘Gadatskvetileba’ [Decision] program, the Prime Minister explained that as per the legislation, the Ministry of Justice has minimal authority to enforce transparency of the activities of non-governmental organizations.
“Regarding the Ministry of Justice’s functions and monitoring rights, I will give you a simple illustration, the Anti-Corruption Bureau has far broader powers toward political parties and this has never been an issue since 1997.
As for the levers assigned to the Ministry of Justice, this is a very minimum that the state may use to ensure the transparency of the activities of non-governmental organizations. They talked about a thousand absurdities as if the Ministry of Justice can invade the people’s intimate lives, etc.
The anti-corruption agency has been granted similar, if not greater, levers, yet no one has ever invaded the privacy of others.
What certain ‘NGO individuals’ said in Georgia is completely absurd; it’s not even humorous. Of course, they have a subjective interest, but reading the same in the Venice Commission conclusion goes beyond all limitations. This implies renunciation of professional ethics and dignity, as stated explicitly in the Venice Commission’s conclusion,” the PM stated.
On May 21, the Venice Commission published its recommendation regarding the very law.
