TBILISI, April 16. /TASS/. The Georgian parliament’s vote on the first reading of a foreign agent bill has been postponed to April 17, Parliament Chairman Shalva Papuashvili said, summing up a plenary session.
According to the rules, the session was to end at 9:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. GMT), Papuashvili said. Since a debate on the bill is not over yet, a decision has been made to continue it on April 17 and vote on the bill later on the same day. Wednesday’s plenary session is scheduled to begin at noon local time (8:00 a.m. GMT).
Protests against the foreign agent bill have been going on in Tbilisi since Monday, when they escalated into clashes with police. Fourteen people were detained, with four of them already released on parole.
In early April, the ruling Georgian Dream party announced its decision to reintroduce the bill a year after the initiative had triggered mass protests, making the authorities opt against adopting it. The bill is almost identical to last year’s, with one exception: the term "agent of foreign influence" has been replaced with "organization pursuing foreign interests."
The party's decision to reintroduce the bill caused a negative reaction from the opposition and President Salome Zurabishvili, as well as from the EU and US embassies. According to those opposing the idea, the bill will hinder the country’s integration into the European Union.
Foreign agent laws are in effect in Russia, some Western countries, Israel and China. The United States was the first to adopt the Foreign Agents Registration Act in 1938.