Deputies fight in Georgian Parliament during discussion of law on foreign agents
Fight in Georgian parliament
Discussion of the new draft law on foreign agents in the Georgian parliament is again taking place, with protests near the parliament building. A fight broke out between deputies of the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition in the parliament hall itself.
Bailiffs entered the meeting room and forced MPs from opposition parties, including Giorgi Vashadze (Strategy Agmashenebeli), Levan Khabeishvili (chairman of the United National Movement) and Ani Tsitlidze (United National Movement) to leave the hall.
It all started with a verbal dispute between the chairman of the legal committee, Anri Okhanashvili, and representatives of the opposition.
“Whose interests are you serving? You are a stateless person. You have no understanding of the interests of the state,” Okhanashvili addressed Giorgi Vashadze.
“You think there are enough deputies here to “Russify” the country, don’t you? I am sure that the Georgian people will not allow the adoption of this law and the Russification of the country. On the orders of Anri Okhanashvili, this Putin slave, and bailiffs, we were physically attacked by deputies from the Georgian Dream,” Giorgi Botkoveli, a member of the National Movement, said.
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Before that, posters appeared in Tbilisi with a new slogan from the chairman of Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze: “Spies are detractors of the church.”
The photo shows former Ombudsman Nino Lomdzharia, Deputy Public Defender Giorgi Burjanadze, deputies Khatuna Samnidze and Tamar Kordzaya, activists Zuka Berdzenishvili, Levan Berdzenishvili, political scientist Gia Nodia, leader of the Lelo party Mamuka Khazaradze, and leader of the European Georgia party Giga Bokeria.
As Kobakhidze told Imedi TV, people who oppose this law are engaged in “anti-church propaganda and they do it deliberately to undermine our identity.” Kobakhidze also said that the rally against the law on foreign agents in front of parliament on March 3 was “an action of detractors of the church.”
The Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament approved two versions of the bill, according to which media and NGOs that receive foreign funding must be registered as “agents of foreign influence.”
As of 27 February, two bills have been registered in Parliament. Both were initiated by the Power of the People movement. The first one is called “On Transparency of Foreign Influence”, the second one is called “On Registration of Foreign Agents”. The first applies only to NGOs and media receiving foreign funding, and the second applies to both individuals and legal entities, with a number of exceptions.
The Power of the People movement became famous for its strong anti-Western statements. It includes deputies who used to be members of the ruling party. Experts and many in the public view the movement as fully affiliated with the authorities.
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The Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament of Georgia has confirmed in the first reading a draft law according to which non-governmental and media organizations that receive foreign funding must be registered as “agents of foreign influence”.
As of 27 February, two bills have been registered in Parliament. Both were initiated by the People’s Power movement, which has become famous for its harsh anti-Western statements. The movement includes deputies who were previously members of the ruling party. Experts and many in the public view the movement as fully affiliated with the authorities.
Members of thee movement openly declare that the movement was created in order to “tell people the truth about the West, which is trying to go to war and open a second front.”
The draft law is being criticized by everyone except the ruling party: the local NGO and media sector, the opposition, experts and politicians who have recently been at the mercy of the Georgian dream and even the President of Georgia.
The bill is heavily criticized by Georgia’s Western partners from various international organizations, US senators or European lawmakers. The US Ambassador bluntly called it “Russian law.”
US State Department spokesman, Ned Price, says that the proponents of the law will be held responsible for risking the future of the country.
On February 20, Georgian senators Jeanne Shaheen and Dick Durbin visited Georgia. Shaheen stated at a press conference on the “foreign agents” law that it was similar Russian legislation of the same type.
Fight in Georgian parliament
