Massive protests force Georgia to drop the 'foreign agents' bill
Georgia protests
Georgia has decided to drop the bill on "foreign agents" following heavy protests and demonstrations against it for two nights. Opponents of the bill said that it was inspired by Russia's authoritarian shift and put in jeopardy hopes of the country joining the European Union.
The Georgian Dream ruling party in a statement said it will "unconditionally withdraw the bill we supported without any reservations". The party said the decision to withdraw the bill was based on the need to reduce "confrontation" in society. However, it categorically denounced "lies" told about the bill by the "radical opposition".
Meanwhile, the opposition parties said that they will continue to protest against the bill.Giga Lemonjala, a representative of the Droa party, said until the government formally denounces the "foreign agents" billand releasesall those detained, the protests against the bill will continue.
The European Union's delegation toGeorgiapraised the decision to pull back the bill."We welcome announcement by the ruling party to withdraw draft legislation on 'foreign influence'," it wrote on Twitter.
We encourage all political leaders inGeorgiato resume pro-EU reforms, in an inclusive & constructive way".
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The "foreign agents" bill would have required Georgian organisations that received more than 20 per cent of their funding from abroad to register as "foreign agents" or face fines. Georgian Dream had previously said the law was necessary to unmask critics of the Georgian Orthodox Church, one of the country's most powerful institutions.
Massive protests around the Georgian parliament
The draft law gotinitial approval on Tuesday, after whichtens of thousands of protestersgathered outside the parliament and also the next day. They hurled petrol bombs, stones and plastic bottles at police.
A window of the parliament building was also broken and a police car was overturned. At least 77 people were arrested after the police used tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon to disperse the crowds.
(With inputs from agencies)
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