Georgian parties that previously supported the adoption of the bill on "foreign agents" withdrew the document after two days of protests that escalated into clashes with the police. However, in a statement on this occasion on behalf of the parliamentary majority, including the Georgian Dream, it is said that part of the society misinterpreted the bill, mistakenly considering it "Russian" and contrary to Georgia's aspirations for European integration. The statement also says that the parliament is going to carry out explanatory work.
Political scientist Gela Vasadze, in an interview with The Insider, called the withdrawal of the bill a victory for civil society and expressed doubt that parliamentarians would return to this initiative at all:
“I don’t think they will return to this law at all, because they needed this law as a signal. This is the test mode, and they did not pass the test, and thank God. They won't do anything. This is a victory for the entire civil society of Georgia, and above all, it is a victory for the young people who forced Dream to reverse. The essence of this law was that those who receive grants from foreign embassies and foundations must be entered in some kind of register. An absolute analogy with the first edition of the Russian law. Then individuals were brought in, then repressive measures, but the first edition was vegetarian.
This law did not change anything compared to the Russian one, because in Georgia a grant from the same US embassy is an honor, there is no and cannot be any negative attitude towards this. The point here is that our authorities have decided to show what they can. That they can just take and pass a law that just makes a mental reference to the Russian experience. They were told that no, they could not. And most importantly, they did not expect such a public reaction, because they believed that the law concerned 15-20 non-governmental organizations and several opposition media. But in fact, an interesting effect turned out: young people and students who were born after the collapse of the USSR, who do not represent Georgia outside of Europe and who have long dreamed that we would have a normal democratic state, saw this as a threat to their future and their dreams, and they realized that their Georgian dream is different, which they showed.
Then there will be protests demanding that those responsible for dispersing peaceful protests be punished. If 10-15 people were buzzing somewhere from the back of the parliament, then they should be arrested, and not go to Rustaveli Avenue, where there was nothing and where people were just at a peaceful protest, and disperse them in violation of the Constitution of Georgia, where the right is enshrined to meetings. Therefore, in this regard, it is necessary to call to political responsibility those who made this decision.”
Deputies of the Power of the People movement, a satellite of the Georgian Dream party in power, proposed to amend the legislation. Initially, there were two bills. The first is similar to the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which refers to representatives of foreign governments and political parties promoting the interests of their "principals". The second document provided for the creation of a register of "agents of foreign influence" by analogy with the law, which was adopted in Russia to prosecute people and organizations objectionable to the authorities. It was this bill that was adopted in the first reading by the Georgian parliament.
On the evening of March 7, residents began to gather near the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, dissatisfied with the adopted bill. The police tried to disperse the protesters with tear gas, more than 60 people were detained. The next day the action continued, the police again used gas and water cannons. The protesters were supported by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who recorded an appeal from abroad.
