We welcome the decision made by the Parliament’s Sector Economy and Economic Policy Committee on December 11, 2017, not to support the bill initiated by Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) on making amendments to the Law on Broadcasting.
The civil society organizations and private broadcasters have repeatedly voiced strong criticism against the bill. According to various assessments, the proposed bill contains the risks of non-transparency and corruption at GPB, weakens public oversight mechanisms and creates an uncompetitive environment on the advertising market.
Despite the leading committee’s well-founded and fair position, separate members of the Georgian Parliament stated that the bill would likely be discussed at the Parliament’s plenary session.
We call on the lawmakers to give due consideration to the leading committee’s well-founded position, share the important remarks on the bill made by the respective parliamentary committee, as well as significant part of civil society organizations and private media outlets.