The Georgian Parliament Speaker, Shalva Papuashvili, has said that the genuine organizers of the protest against the draft law “On transparency of foreign influence” were identified yesterday.

Papuashvili clarified that it was the United National Movement (UNM) that ultimately took control of the stage. He emphasized that this highlighted once again that certain NGOs were part of the UNM.

“In terms of the bill, I believe that recent events and the lack of transparency surrounding the organizers of the protests have emphasized the necessity of such a law. Until now, we have been unaware of who funded the technical equipment used by the NGOs, the group claiming to organize the protests. Yesterday, it became clear that the UNM was the genuine organizer of the protests. They were the ones who seized control of the stage in the end. They are the driving force behind the propaganda against this law.

Therefore, it has become evident again that a portion of the NGO sector has actually become part of UNM. We are not discussing the erasure of boundaries here. Rather, we are witnessing the assimilation of this sector into the UNM,” Papuashvili remarked.