A controversial law to allow advertising to be aired on the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) has passed its second hearing in Parliament. The draft has faced opposition from other broadcasters and civil society as well as a parliamentary committee.
Despite a parliamentary committee objected a controversial draft law which would allow the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) to air advertisements, the Parliament passed it in its second hearing.
Eighty-five MPs voted in favour with only six opposed in the 14 December vote, despite the Parliamentary Committee of Sectoral Economy and Economic Policy objecting to the draft.
Parliament will now vote on the law in its third and final hearing.
Nino Jangirashvili, Director of broadcaster Kavkasia, said a number of broadcasters and civil society groups are urging the President to veto the bill.
However, the ruling Georgian Dream party has enjoyed a constitutional majority in parliament since 2016 parliamentary elections, and can override a presidential veto.
Head of Parliament’s Judiciary Committee, Eka Beselia, said on 19 December she was ‘honestly amazed’ by the criticism, as ‘parliament has not worked so long on any other project’. ‘Claims the project is[…] unprepared are not serious’, she added.
Tinatin Berdzenishvili, the Director of Media and Communications at GPB, who has lobbied for the bill, said on 18 December during a meeting with the President that commercial broadcasters are free of the obligations that GPB has. According to her, the amendments to the law aim to increase their ratings and help them ‘become one of the strongest players on the market’.
The amendments to the Law on Broadcasting to remove restrictions on advertising were initiated by the GPB themselves. The broadcaster claims this will contribute to their development and allow them to better compete with commercial broadcasters.
If the changes are adopted, the GPB would still face restrictions, with advertisements limited to three minutes an hour and restricted entirely at prime times, on weekends, and on public holidays.
The draft would also allow the broadcaster to avoid the Procurement Law while licensing and commissioning films and TV programmes. The law mandates that public bodies hold tenders for any goods or services they purchase. Opponents of the law claim this would decrease transparency at the broadcaster.
Vasil Maghlaperidze, General Director of the GPB, defended the changes, claiming opponents of the bill have been mislead. He said the aim was to streamline how the GPB purchases TV shows, saying the broadcaster should not ‘purchase a movie or a TV programme the same way we purchase cement or an air conditioner’.
The Constitutional Court of Georgia has declined a motion to suspend the foreign agent law pending a final ruling on its constitutionality.
On Wednesday, the court announced it had agreed to hear the case against the law, more than a month after four separate lawsuits against it were filed and merged into one appeal.
According to their decision, none of the law’s articles will be suspended until the case is resolved. Two of the eight judges, Giorgi Kverenchkhiladze and Teimuraz Tughushi,
The Georgian government has begun registering organisations as foreign agents in its public registry, two months after launching the online registration portal.
The Ministry of Justice added five organisations to the database on Monday, with at least six more being added on Tuesday.
The first five were the Ukrainian Youth Organisation of Georgia-Svitanok, the Professional Union of Farmers and Agricultural Workers of Georgia, the Kutaisi Youth Home, the Union of Christians, and the Jewish
A man who filmed a Georgian MP stealing and throwing an orange at him has been fined for provoking the attack, by insulting MPs over their support of the foreign agent law.
Aleksandre Samkharadze, 29, was fined ₾1,000 ($370) on Monday. He was charged with petty hooliganism after publishing footage of himself hurling insults at MPs leaving parliament after they overruled President Salome Zourabichvili’s veto of the controversial law on 28 May.
In the footage, Samkharadze is heard shouting ‘ra
OC Media has refused to register with the Georgian Government as an organisation ‘carrying out the interests of a foreign power’ after the deadline to do so passed on Monday.
OC Media, a regional news platform registered and headquartered in Georgia, joins a majority of local media and non-governmental organisations in boycotting the controversial legislation.
OC Media co-founder and executive director Mariam Nikuradze stated that registering in the database ‘would go against our mission’
A controversial law to allow advertising to be aired on the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) has passed its second hearing in Parliament. The draft has faced opposition from other broadcasters and civil society as well as a parliamentary committee.
