A bill “misrepresented in a bad light”. This is how the ruling party in Georgia, Georgian Dream, qualifies its text aimed at NGOs and the media. Georgian Dream announced on Thursday March 9 the withdrawal of this bill which has triggered massive protests that have been harshly repressed in this Caucasian country over the past two days.
“As a party of government responsible to every member of society, we have decided to unconditionally withdraw this bill which we support,” the Georgian Dream party said in a statement posted on its website. In its press release, the Georgian Dream party specifies however that it will launch public consultations to “better explain” the purpose of this text. The party in power is therefore not completely closing the door to a future return of this bill to Parliament.
The announcement comes a day after massive protests in the capital Tbilisi saw police use tear gas canisters and water cannons to disperse tens of thousands of people gathered near parliament. Police ordered protesters gathered outside Parliament to disperse, then used gas and water cannons. Flags of Georgia and the European Union were waved by the demonstrators.
Zelensky’s support for “democratic” forces
The Georgian Interior Ministry said Wednesday that at least 77 people had been arrested and 50 policemen injured the day before. On Tuesday, the opposition Girch party said in a statement that its leader, Zurab Japaridze, had been violently beaten by police and taken into custody. The president of the ruling party, Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze for his part denounced the action of “radicals”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave him his support in the evening for the “democratic” forces of Georgia. “There is not a Ukrainian who does not wish success to our friend Georgia. Democratic success. European success,” he said in his daily address.
The protest movement was triggered by the adoption on Tuesday at first reading of a bill providing that NGOs and media receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad are obliged to register as ” foreign agents”, on pain of a fine.
For its critics, this text is inspired by a similar law that exists in Russia where the Kremlin uses it to repress the independent press, human rights organizations and their opponents. “No to Russian law!” Chanted the crowd gathered in Tbilisi on Wednesday at the call of several NGOs and opposition groups.
The concerns of the EU and the United States
In a sign of growing concern in the West, the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, had condemned the bill on Wednesday, deeming it “incompatible” with the values of the EU and the objective of joining the European block. The United States had for its part called on Tbilisi to respect “freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstrations”, State Department spokesman Ned Price, reiterating the “concern” of the United States over this law.
Prior to the ruling party’s announcement, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili – a former French diplomat with limited powers – called for the law to be “repealed”, promising to veto it. However, this veto could have been overcome by the ruling party, which controls more than half of the seats in Parliament.
The demonstrations that shook Georgia on Tuesday and Wednesday are part of a broader context of political crisis in this former Soviet republic, marked by a Russian military intervention in 2008. In recent years, the Georgian authorities have had to face growing international criticism over an alleged rollback of democracy that has damaged Tbilisi’s ties with Brussels.
Georgia formally submitted its application for the EU along with Ukraine and Moldova a few days after the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory on February 24, 2022. In June 2022, the EU had granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, but demanded that Georgia carry out several reforms before obtaining a similar status.