In the face of major street protests in Tbilisi and international criticism, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party returned the ‘foreign agents’ bill to parliament in late April and passed it on the third reading on 14 May. The law requires any civic organisations that receive more than 20 per cent of their funding from abroad to register as ‘organisations carrying the interests of a foreign power’ and includes significant fines for noncompliance. Protesters and opposition groups argued the law is designed to undermine Georgia’s EU accession and move it into Russia’s sphere of influence, while the government insists it is necessary to protect Georgia’s political sovereignty. The European Commission has said it previously informed GD officials that passing the bill would result in a suspension of Georgia’s EU accession processes. The bill was previously introduced and removed in March 2023 after similar protests and significant Western criticism. Over 100 protesters have been arrested, reports of police brutality have been common, and critics of the government have been attacked by unknown assailants outside their homes. Georgian Dream has a sufficient majority to override President Salome Zourabichvili’s planned veto and has stated it intends to do so.    

Sources: Eurasianet, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, OC Media, International IDEA, Financial Times 

Georgia’s parliament introduced and adopted a new tax law through a fast-track procedure in April, which exempts assets currently held outside of Georgia from many taxes or duties if they are repatriated before 1 January 2028. Parliament considered and passed the amendments in eight days while significant street protests were being held outside the parliament building against the ‘foreign agents’ legislation. Analysts and opposition politicians argue the law is intended to allow the oligarch, Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s wealthiest man and the leader and financier of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, to move his assets into Georgia in order to evade future possible financial sanctions from the United States or European Union. A close associate of Ivanishvili, Otar Partskhaladze, was sanctioned by the United States in September 2023, and the spectre of sanctions has complicated Ivanishvilis’s ability to collect damages in his long-running legal feud with Credit Suisse. 

Sources: OC Media, Civil.ge, Blackstone Chambers, Jam News 

Georgia’s ruling party introduced constitutional amendments on 25 March that would significantly curtail LGBTQIA+ rights by banning sex changes, adoption by same-sex couples and banning any gathering that might “popularise same-sex family or intimate relations.” The draft amendments have been condemned by local civil society organizations and political opposition, both on the grounds that they are homophobic and discriminatory and as damaging to Georgia’s goal of joining the European Union. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in the capital Tbilisi, referring to the amendments as the “Russian law” after the largely similar legislation passed in Russia in 2012. Georgian Dream has tried to pass similar legislation before without success, and the proposed amendments need to be passed by both this and the next parliament in order to take effect.

Sources: OC Media, Reuters, Civil.ge

Parliament voted to override a presidential veto and change Georgia’s electoral code on 19 March, transferring the authority to nominate candidates for the Chairman and members of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) from the president to the speaker of the parliament and lowering the threshold for parliamentary approval. The amendments also abolish the position of Deputy Chairman, which was the formal representative of the parliamentary opposition in the CEC. Opposition political parties and domestic CSOs argued the amendments damage the CEC’s neutrality, are contrary to the conditions of its European Union membership application and contradict recommendations from the Venice Commission. The ruling Georgian Dream party argued the changes were necessary to prevent the opposition from “sabotaging” the CEC before this year’s elections.

Sources: Civil.ge (1), Civil.ge (2), Civil.ge (3), 1TV

Billionaire and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili announced his formal return to politics as ”honorary chairman” of the ruling Georgian Dream party on 30 December. Ivanishvili founded Georgian Dream in 2012 and served as prime minister before his first retirement from political life in 2013, before returning from 2018 to 2021 as party chairman. Analysts and opposition parties say Ivanishvili has remained the most powerful person and prime decisionmaker in the country throughout this time, and the European Union’s condition of “deoligarichization” for Georgia’s membership is widely interpreted to refer to an end of Ivanishvili’s personal unofficial political control. The analyst Gia Khukhashvili argued that Ivanishvili’s return to an official political position is an attempt to technically circumvent this requirement, avoid any international sanctions for behind-the-scenes political activities, and perpetuate his unofficial control over the country’s government.

Sources: Eurasianet, Reuters

Women’s rights activists and public health experts condemned the Ministry of Health’s decision to mandate counselling by a psychologist and social worker before a woman can obtain an abortion. The procedures were updated in October and will come into effect on 1 January 2024, but neither domestic nor international health organizations were consulted on the change and Georgian media did not hear of it until 7 November. The new procedures run contrary to international public health recommendations, and domestic and international advocates worried that they would only lead to an increase of unsafe, illegal abortions.

Sources: OC Media, RFSU

The European Commission recommended that the European Union grant Georgia candidate status on 8 November, and the members of the European Council unanimously agreed on 14 December. The move is symbolic and was celebrated by both Georgian and European political leaders, but it is not a guarantee of future membership. As a condition for future membership, the EU says Georgia must commit to reforms on justice and the rule of law, decrease polarization in the country, and implement a “de-oligarichization” programme, among others.

Sources: European Union, British Broadcasting Corporation, Civil.ge