The Georgian parliament has supported the foreign agents bill at the plenary session in the second reading.
"There are 83 votes in favor and 23 against. The bill has been adopted in the second reading," the Georgian parliament’s speaker Shalva Papuashvili said.
The bill was considered in the second since Tuesday. On Tuesday, the legislators did not have time to put the bill to the vote, so it was decided to continue the discussions on Wednesday. There were heated debates, so the parliament speaker had to order four opposition MPs out of the conference hall for violating the rules of procedure.
According to the procedure, the bill is now to undergo the final, third reading. If supported, it will be sent to President Salome Zourabichvili for signature, who has already warned that she would veto the law. In this case the parliament will have to launch a procedure to override the veto. This requires the consent of at least 76 members out of 150. The ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party has 84 mandates in.
Alongside the parliamentary session, several thousand people have been protesting against the bill outside the legislature. They were demanding that the authorities abandon the document.
