Authors of foreign agents bill accuse president of making “anti-state” comments

Guram Macharashvili, a member of the People’s Power movement whose foreign agents bills have triggered large-scale controversies, on Friday accused the president Salome Zourabichvili of making “anti-state” comments. 

 

Macharashvili, who still remains in the parliamentary majority despite leaving the party last year, claimed the president “is not well-aware of the country’s constitution”, following her critical comments on the bill and the fellow member of the movement Mikheil Kavelashvili. 

 

“If the president does not have the constitution, I can give her the document that reads she does not rule the country and has no power to conduct foreign or domestic policies”, Macharashvili said. 

 

Zourabichvili on Thursday slammed Kavelashvili for his latest comments that EU membership was not Georgia’s key goal. 

 

“It is alarming for a member of parliament to make statements against the constitution.The supreme law of the country obliges the constitutional bodies to take all measures to ensure the full integration of Georgia into the EU”, Zourabichvili said. 

 

She stressed Georgia’s  full integration into the EU and NATO had been determined by the country’s constitution. 

 

The bills proposed by the People’s Power that have been described as a “Russian law” by international organizations and domestic actors, envisages the registration of“non-commercial legal entities and media outlets as agents of foreign influence if they receive more than 20 percent of their income from abroad”. 

 

The country’s partners say the bill could hamper Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration process.