On 14 May, the Georgian MPs from ruling party and opposition fought over a vote on a controversial pro-Russian law on "foreign agents".
In the Parliament of Georgia, MPs clashed over the law on "foreign agents"
A verbal dispute in the Parliament of Georgia turned into a fight between deputies of the ruling party and the opposition.
This has been reported by Echo of the Caucasus.
About 20 members of the parliamentary majority participated in the fight. A member of the parliamentary majority, Rima Beradze, hit a member of the Agmashnebeli Strategy, Paata Manjgaladze, on the head with a folder of papers, and threatened the party leader, Giorgi Vashadze, with a tablet.
Aleksandr Motserelia, a member of the Georgian Parliament from the "For Georgia" party, called on representatives of the Georgian Dream to withdraw the controversial initiative. The opposition member reminded his colleagues that even in Abkhazia such legislation is considered controversial.
Opponents of the law on "foreign agents" gathered near the Georgian parliament building
Protesters gathered in front of the Georgian parliament building to express their attitude to the draft law "On transparency of foreign influence", which should be adopted in the third, final reading.
MPs from the ruling party managed to get into the building thanks to the police, who blocked the street from the protesters. The participants of the action escorted the parliamentarians shouting "Slaves!", the publication writes.
Opposition MPs hung the flags of Georgia and the European Union from the windows of the parliament, which was accompanied by applause from the rally participants.
Students of various universities of Georgia also joined the action. The day before, students of more than 30 universities across the country announced a general strike. The demonstrators carry EU and Georgian flags and chant: "No to the Russian law!", "Yes to Europe!", writes Sova.
Since the morning, the participants of the rally gathered near the entrance to the parliament from the side of Brativ Zubalashvili Street, but the law enforcement officers forced them to leave the territory.
President Salome Zourabichvili previously promised that she would veto the scandalous bill. According to the Constitution of Georgia, the president signs and publishes the law within 10 days, or returns it to the parliament with reasoned comments. The Georgian Dream has enough votes to overcome the veto. If even after that the president does not sign the law, it is signed and published by the speaker of the parliament.
The Constitution does not specify the terms during which the parliament must override the president's veto. Presumably, Mriya can finally approve the law in mid-June, the publication writes.
