Following two nights of fierce rallies in Tbilisi, the governing party of Georgia withdrew a contentious "foreign influence" bill, but the opponents warned of additional demonstrations on Thursday.
Hours after tens of thousands of people rallied in the Georgia protests outside the Georgian parliament for a second night, some fighting with police, the country's official broadcaster announced that the measure would be canceled, CNN reported.
However, Giga Lemonjala, executive secretary of the oppositional Droa party, said that his group "did not believe" that the legislation would be withdrawn by the dominant Georgian Dream party because the "Georgian Dream has lied to the Georgian public several times."
Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the country's parliament during the Georgia protests, which Lemonjala fears would sever Georgia from Europe. Lemonjala is asking that parliament officially revoke the foreign agents bill and quickly free all those jailed during the protests.
Opposition parties sought clarification on the proposal's withdrawal process and the release of demonstrators, who had been imprisoned this week.
Bill Proponents Defend The Measure
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili had previously denounced the "stir" over the law. His party said that the legislation was modeled by US laws from the 1930s, a claim that the Kremlin made in 2012 when it approved a bill with a similar effect, per BBC.
The foreign agents bill does resemble one that was passed in Russia in 2012 and used to shut down or smear opposition groups there.
Sponsors of the controversial foreign agents bill argued it was essential for the transparency of companies supported by foreign powers, but opponents viewed it as a possible obstacle to Georgia's declared goal of entering NATO and the European Union.
Maria Kaljurand and Sven Mikser, two prominent actors in Georgia relations and members of the European Parliament, claimed the foreign agents bill contradicts the Georgian authorities' professed goal to acquire "candidate status for EU membership," per a report on US News.
Georgia President Salome Zurabishvili has already said she would reject the legislation. Shalva Papuashvili, the speaker of the parliament, requested on Wednesday that the Venice Commission on Constitutional Law of the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights organization, evaluate the controversial foreign agents bill.
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