On March 7, the Georgian Parliament supported the draft law "On transparency of foreign influence", which effectively copies the norms of the Russian law on foreign agents in the first reading. 76 deputies voted for it, and 13 voted against it. According to the document, mass media and public organizations that receive funding from abroad will be granted the status of "foreign agents".
After that, large-scale protests against the draft law began in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The draft law on "foreign agents", which caused protests in Georgia for several days, was withdrawn from the parliament.
This was stated in the joint statement of the ruling "Georgian Dream" party, the "People's Power" public movement and the parliamentary majority, which initiated the bill.
The adoption of the law, and then its withdrawal, creates many unclear questions in minds. Georgian political analyst Zaal Anjaparidze clarified all these unclear points during his statement to Ednews.
According Georgian political analyst Zaal Anjaparidze, further developments depend on both external and internal factors:
“One option is that opposition will give an ear to the West’s recommendations and temporarily halts protests after the withdrawal of the controversial bill; the second option is that opposition with the clandestine support of the West, will continue its pressure on the government and put forward new political demands, including the resignation of the government and early parliamentary elections.”
He said that the government has taken into account both people’s protests and unprecedented pressure from the West:
“In this situation, it decided to opt for the lesser of two evils.”
“External actors gave their moral support to the protesters. This information has not affected many actions across the country", Z.Anjaparidze noted in the end.
Ulviyya Shahin
