Foreign agents bill consideration in Georgia: fights, spats and protests

The discussion of a new bill "on foreign agents" in the Georgian parliament is held amid verbal and physical confrontations and a protest rally.

Two draft laws are registered in the parliament - "On Transparency of Foreign Influence," which concerns only legal entities, and "On Registration of Foreign Agents," which is analogous to the US law, Caliber.Az reports citing Georgian media.

Both were initiated by MPs representing the People's Power public movement.

Consideration of the draft laws in committees on March 2, led to a confrontation and fight between the MPs from the ruling party "Georgian dream - democratic Georgia" and the opposition. This time too, the situation at the meeting of the legal committee was initially very tense.

According to the oppositionists, the adoption of the bill on "foreign agents" will negatively affect Georgia's ability to gain EU candidate status, moreover, they claim that it is a variant of Russian law.

The head of the committee, Anri Okhanashvili, had to call several times on opposition representatives to order. He asked to allow the representative of the People's Power public movement Guram Machavariani to present the draft law, but the noise did not subside.

Eventually, Okhanashvili called for bailiffs to remove several opposition MPs from the hall and ensure order. This was protested by Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the "Agmashenebeli Strategy" opposition party.

"You are a man without a motherland," Okhanashvili said to Vashadze.

The leader of the largest opposition party "United National Movement" Levan Khabeishvili went even further and expressed his displeasure by physically confronting Okhanashvili.

The bailiffs then removed several opposition MPs from the hall, including Khabeishvili, Vashadze, as well as Davit Kirkitadze, Nikoloz Machutadze, Giorgi Botkoveli, and Paata Manjgaladze. As a result, a technical break was announced.

"It is a violation of regulations, when those MPs, who want to speak about the law, have their microphone cut off. Chairman of the Committee does not want MPs to speak to the public from the rostrum," opposition MP Khatuna Samnidze said.

Even before the beginning of the committee hearing, opponents of the law started gathering near the building of the legislative body. The protesters pelted the parliament building with eggs. Police were mobilised on the spot.

"I believe any citizen has a duty to oppose this law. The expectations are pessimistic. And today I think that the legal committee will support and submit (the bill - ed.) to the session," said Zurab Japaridze, leader of the opposition party "Girchi - More Freedom".

At the same time, a restricted access regime was introduced in parliament. As explained in the parliament, the aim is to protect the safety of MPs, staff members, and visitors to the parliament, as well as to ensure working conditions.

"This is not a committee meeting, this is a special operation. The entire building is cordoned off by special services. This is a violent operation," said MP Roman Gotsiridze.

Currently, the Legal Committee is holding its sitting in a relatively calm environment. The protest action continues, the participants are waving Georgian and EU flags.