The Georgian parliament on Tuesday approved a controversial foreign agents bill with its first reading amid large-scale public protests in the country’s capital, with riot police and law enforcement officers present at the legislative body following the vote.
The bill was voted for by 76 MPs in the 150-member state legislature, while 13 voting against, several ruling party MPs among them.
The second bill on the transparency of foreign influence that was also proposed by the People’s Power movement – composed of former members of the ruling party who still remain in the parliamentary majority – has not been voted on today.
The bill approved with its first reading – with two readings still ahead until its approval – envisages the registration of domestic NGOs and media organizations as foreign agents if they receive more than 20 percent of their incomes from abroad.
The bill backed by the ruling party was strongly condemned by the international community as a “Russian law” that was expected to “stigmatize and silence independent voices and the organizations in the country that help other Georgians build the country’s democratic future.”
They also warned the country’s authorities that such bills could hamper Georgia’s European integration process ahead of the bloc’s decision on the country’s membership candidate status.
In his comments for the media on Tuesday, prime minister Irakli Garibashvili claimed the country was “no longer in the hands of foreign agents” and instead belonged to “patriots”, pointing to his government that as he said had “always acted in accordance with the interests of its people”.
In contrast to the claims, domestic NGOs, media organizations, the opposition and a larger portion of the public have accused the authorities of “dragging Georgia back to Russia”, calling “traitors” to the lawmakers supporting the bill.
Reacting to the developments, the US embassy said it was a “dark day for Georgia’s democracy”, saying the Georgian parliament’s advancing of “these Kremlin-inspired laws is incompatible with the people of Georgia’s clear desire for European integration and its democratic development”.
“Pursuing these laws will damage Georgia’s relations with its strategic partners and undermine the important work of so many Georgian organizations working to help their fellow citizens. The process and the draft laws raise real questions about the ruling party’s commitment to Euro-Atlantic integration”, said the embassy.
The ruling party claimed it would wait for the opinion of the Venice Commission of the Council of Erope over the bills before their final approval, with president Salome Zourabichvili saying she would veto any of the bills if approved.
