The Daily Beat: 1 September
At a campaign rally in the Western Georgian town of Ozurgeti, Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream’s honorary chairman addressed the crowd, saying “The mission of Orthodox Christianity, as a pillar of the Georgian state identity, will be clearly reflected in the Georgian Constitution,” should the party obtain the constitutional majority in the October parliamentary elections. He also reiterated the intention to ban the “collective UNM,” a term encompassing virtually all opposition, and crack down on LGBT in the name of protecting family values after the elections.
Bidzina Ivanishvili’s reversal on GD’s promise to declare Orthodox Christianity the state religion in case of winning a constitutional majority came after the patriarchate delicately declined the ruling party’s proposal, raising concerns about increasing state influence over the church. To avoid potential friction with the clergy, Ivanishvili now asserts that an agreement had been reached with the patriarchate to upgrade the role of the Church.
From August 29 to 31, the Constitutional Court held a preliminary hearing on the lawsuits against the Foreign Agents Law filed by the President, 121 CSOs and media organizations, opposition MPs, and two journalists, which the Court consolidated into a single case. Now the court will decide on the admissibility of the constitutional claims and whether to temporarily suspend the practical provisions of the law, as requested by the plaintiffs. You can find concise reports from each day of the hearing here.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell reiterated the EU’s “extreme” and “increasing” concern about Georgia’s trajectory, in his remarks made during the press conference following the informal meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers on August 29, 2024 in Brussels. “We briefly discussed the situation in Georgia. We are extremely, increasingly concerned about the trajectory of this country moving away from the European Union,” stressed Josep Borrell.
The minutes of the meeting between the de-facto Abkhaz leader Aslan Bzhania and Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak, circulated by the Abkhaz media outlets, indicate that Russia threatens the occupied region and its so-called MPs with funding cuts and revocation of the Russian citizenship, demanding fulfillment of obligations vis-a-vis Moscow regarding the “apartment law.” The controversial so-called law titled “On Regulation of the Legal Status of Aparthotels and Apartments” would allow Russians to buy apartments in occupied Abkhazia, which was previously illegal.
On August 30, the “Shame Movement” released a video announcing that the organization was applying for registration in the Justice Ministry’s registry of organizations pursuing the interests of foreign power. This sparked public outcry from some NGOs, human rights defenders, and civic activists. The next day, the “Shame Movement” retracted its decision, describing it as a mistake. In its Facebook announcement, the “Shame Movement” also noted that Giorgi Mzhavanadze will leave the post of the director of the organization.
The Data of the Day
Georgia’s estimated real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate amounted to 13% for July 2024 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, according to the rapid estimates released by the National Statistics Office on August 30. According to Geostat, construction; manufacturing; information and communication; professional, scientific, and technical activities; and trade significantly contributed to growth. The decline was registered in the energy sector.
