Georgian Lawmakers Drop ‘Foreign Agent’ Bill in Bow to Protests

Helena Bedwell
·1 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Georgian lawmakers voted to reject a “foreign agent” bill at an emergency session following violent clashes between police and protesters and blunt international criticism.

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Deputies in the parliament voted by 35-1 against the draft law in a second reading, allowing the measure to fail days after the ruling Georgian Dream party had backed it in an initial vote.

Demonstrators in the capital, Tbilisi, cheered the decision. They had rallied outside parliament during the vote to ensure lawmakers carried through a promise to formally abandon the legislation, which the European Union and the US said was similar to one President Vladimir Putin used to crush dissent in Russia.

Scenes From Protests in Georgia Against ‘Foreign Agents’ Law

Georgian Dream decided to pull the measure to ease tensions and ensure that no more young people would be hurt after two consecutive nights of clashes, party official Mamuka Mdinaradze told reporters Thursday.

President Salome Zourabichvili had openly criticized the government for the bill and vowed to veto it.

“The law goes against everything that the European Union recommends, which is to involve a civil society,” she said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “It was taken by the population as an anti-European law and it was taken as such by our international partners.

The president voiced support for the activists and politicians who had taken to the streets, saying 80% of the population favored closer alignment with the EU. “When the society is united on something they can defeat even the majority that is in the parliament,” she said.

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