The political party “Tavisuflebis Moedani” (“Freedom Square”) has drafted a lustration bill and has already begun collecting citizens’ signatures in support of it.
“The main goal of the lustration law is to free the state and public governance from harmful Soviet and post-Soviet influence. According to this law, individuals who deliberately cooperated with the KGB and its successor organizations against Georgia’s national interests will be banned from working in the public sector, as well as from entering into contractual or any other type of relationship with the state,” says Levan Tsutskiridze, one of the leaders of Freedom Square. He adds that they are collecting signatures now precisely so that “no one will later be able to stop or block the bill.”
According to Tsutskiridze, this will be the first initiative they will present to the new democratically elected parliament.
The party’s idea is to create a “National Memory Council”, which would be composed of representatives from the government, parliament, the judiciary, and civil society organizations. The council would study archives and identify individuals who served to strengthen the totalitarian system. Such individuals would be temporarily or permanently banned from holding political positions, working in the public service, working in educational or research institutions, or participating in public procurement and tenders.
“It is extremely important to restore historical justice, to face the past, and to inform and educate society about the immense harm the Soviet Union caused Georgia,” Tsutskiridze states. “We believe that the lustration law is one of the key mechanisms to protect ourselves from the kinds of problems that Georgian Dream has created for us today.”