At a regular session, the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan removed from the agenda the draft law "On Non-Profit Organizations" (on NPOs or "on foreign agents"), which was planned for the second reading, the authors of the Telegram channel "Vzglyad na Vostok" reports.
The draft law had previously passed the parliament's committees in the second reading at the end of January. It was introduced to the committee in mid-September 2023.
According to Deputy Dastan Bekeshev, authorities are likely in negotiations with international donors regarding this law.
"Earlier, this draft law was suspended because they were waiting for a grant from the European Union. Then they received it, and the draft law immediately passed in the committee," Bekeshev stated.
The adoption of the draft law is opposed by the U.S. and UK ambassadors and several international organizations.
In January, representatives of the UK Foreign Ministry arrived in Kyrgyzstan to exert pressure on President Sadyr Japarov and the head of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) Kamchybek Tashiev.
To defend pro-Western activists and journalists, diplomats brought experts from the powerful law firm Fieldfisher.
A few days before that, Japarov and Tashiev lobbied for the approval of the draft law in the committee and its consideration in the second reading. The law on NPOs merely ensures the transparency and financial openness of organizations receiving funds from abroad.
However, some members of the Jogorku Kenesh, closely associated with the West, sided with U.S. and British diplomats, causing the presidential initiative to remain unrealized for over a year.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
February 8, 2024