GD Parliament to Consider Legislation Removing CSOs from Public Decision-Making

The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and the People’s Power movement have introduced a package of legislation aimed at amending 14 different laws, which, if passed, would exclude non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from public decision-making processes.

According to an explanatory note accompanying the proposal, the initiative seeks to address what the proponents describe as the failure of mandatory CSO participation to serve its intended purpose. The document argues that “recent developments, including the worldwide developments surrounding USAID, have revealed that the participation of non-governmental organizations in the public decision-making process hinders the effective implementation of state governance.”

The proposed amendments would also impact several key provisions of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament. Notably, Article 206, which currently provides for CSO representation on the Commission for the Selection of the Public Defender of Consumer Interests, would be amended to eliminate such participation. In addition, under Article 207 and Article 207 Prima, candidates for the Prosecutorial Council and the Disciplinary Board of Judges of the Common Courts of Georgia would no longer be selected from among individuals nominated by non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entities.

Archil Gorduladze, head of the GD parliamentary committee on legal affairs, justified the proposed changes to the law, saying that decisions “should be made by those people and bodies that have public legitimacy”, as conferred by the election results, adding that NGOs do not have such legitimacy. Therefore, he claimed, their participation in public decision-making should not be considered “mandatory”.

In an explanatory note, the GD has once again reiterated its longstanding narrative that NGOs funded by foreign sources do not act in the interests of the local community, but instead “serve the political and economic agenda of external forces”.

The participation of the civil society organizations in the decision-making process at all levels was one of the 12 key EU recommendations (and the subsequent nine conditions) in the context of Georgia’s EU accession.

Also Read:

• 26/02/2025 – GD Moves to Lower Threshold for Voting in the Election Commission Members
• 25/02/2025 – GD Moves to Ban Foreign Funding of Broadcasters, Give Sweeping Powers to Communications Commission to Regulate Content
• 25/02/2025 – Georgian Dream Pushes Amendments to Remove ‘Gender’ from the Legislation

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