Demonstrators threaten new rallies in Georgia

The bill on transparency of foreign influence, which caused major protests in Georgia, has been withdrawn from parliament. This is the answer of the ruling party to the nightly opposition rallies.

The European Union has already threatened Georgia that the country could lose significant support from Europe if it continues to suppress the protest movement. However, even after the cancellation of the document, Georgian activists are demanding clarifications from the ruling party. Correspondent reports from the center of Tbilisi “Izvestia” Alexander Safiulin.

“This is what the square in front of the parliament looks like now. Nothing reminds of past events, except for barriers and a huge number of police cars. A huge number of policemen. Cars are also in the alleys. There is a patrol. At the same time, there is quite busy traffic”– shows Safiulin.

With mass riots and Molotov cocktails, protesters in Georgia defended the revocation of the bill on foreign agents that night. The ruling party of the country decided to take a step back after loud protests in Tbilisi. According to the official statement, it was the protests of the opposition that influenced the decision, which misinterpreted the law and ignited public opposition.

“The lie machine was able to present the bill in a negative light and mislead part of the public. A false label was attached to it, and its adoption in the first reading was presented in the eyes of a part of the public as a deviation from the European course,” the Georgian Dream party said. .

This means that the ruling party does not intend to completely abandon its initiative. Political scientists believe that after the emotional background subsides, the deputies will return to this issue again. In the meantime, they are using a respite to explain to citizens the real meaning of the bill. But the protesters are not going to retreat yet.

“Despite all the difficulties, we resisted the adoption of this law as best we could, and it was in these conditions that our movement was formed. And here, and on Rustaveli Avenue, we showed them with our legitimate protest that we would not retreat, we would win”– one of the protesters said into the mouthpiece.

Parliamentarians claim that radical groups were attracted to the protests – they desperately resisted the police until the morning. At first, the special forces behaved like an observer, but when the crowd tried to storm the parliament building, tear gas and water cannons immediately went into action.

Significantly against the bill were those who in Georgia should be called foreign agents. This is a whole list of media, and their efforts were clearly supported by Western structures, which, in fact, pushed the protesters into clashes with the police.

During the clashes, the Georgian police identified individual provocateurs who contributed to the escalation of the protest. The main task – to disperse the crowd – the security forces completed. They did not even begin to dismantle the flimsy makeshift barricades.

“These shots show that the protesters were clearly preparing. Some of them have gas masks. The man in yellow differs sharply from the rest in clothes. These are the people who are the most active participants in the protest,” says Safiulin.

Such provocateurs constantly caught the eye during the Ukrainian Maidan and numerous Georgian protests in recent years. But all these attempts at revolution have taught the Georgian security forces how to suppress any unrest.

After the bill was withdrawn, the opposition canceled the civil disobedience briefing. Now the ruling party is ready to do everything to prevent a new wave of protests. However, in the evening there will be a rally of civil activists. They demand not only to clarify why the law was actually withdrawn, but also to get what they want and release all detainees.