Shalva Papuashvili held a meeting on Transparency of Foreign Influence and the Act on Registration of Foreign Agents with the EU Ambassador, the Ambassadors of EU Member States, and the Speaker of Parliament.
The Speaker noted concerns about the Draft were raised at the meeting.
“We have copied the American Act exactly, but the Law is claimed not to be American but Russian. The [social] debate is getting absurd. Some forces are trying stigmatize the conversation. Despite the stigmatization wave, we have had long discussions about the importance transparency, such as yesterday’s meeting. We have come to the conclusion that transparency regarding the actors involved in the formation and the adoption of political decisions, is a demand of our citizens. The Parliament is responsible for ensuring the fulfillment of this request. We discussed these requirements and declared that we intended to submit these Drafts for the Venice Commission‘s opinions. We have plenty of time to continue our discussions,” said the Speaker.
He expressed his hope that the civil society would actively cooperate with Parliament, instead of imposing taboos and stigmas, in order to eliminate legal gaps related to inadequate transparency.
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