In a fraction of a second, the session changed. A Georgian MP was speaking at the podium in front of the assembly when one of his colleagues rushed at him and struck him in the head, according to local media. The scene then degenerated into a confrontation between several parliamentarians, who also came to blows in a real crush in the middle of the hemicycle.
Parliamentarians debated this Monday a controversial law on “foreign agents”, considered liberticidal by its detractors. The text has sparked long-standing protests in the country and against which new demonstrations were organized this Monday.
The Legal Affairs Committee of the Georgian Parliament had started hearings on this bill when the incident broke out. In a video circulating online, Mamuka Mdinaradze, head of the majority in parliament and a member of the ruling Georgian Dream party, can be seen addressing MPs when Aleko Elisashvili, an opposition parliamentarian, from the "Citizens" party, hits him in the head, triggering cries in the Assembly.
Coming down from the gallery, the deputy chases his colleague, co-drafter of the bill, and seems to continue to try to hit him, while several other deputies come running and a general fight begins, under the stunned eyes of several other parliamentarians.
“They will drag us to Russia”
Aleko Elisashvili himself was allegedly physically attacked during this crush, according to Georgian Public Radio and Television. The video feed was interrupted at the time of the confrontation, before the session resumed a little later, once the opposition MP was excluded, Georgian television channel Mtavari said. According to local media, the MP shortly after accused his majority colleague of being a “Russian agent”: “They will drag us to Russia, friends,” he said.
This Monday, the deputies examined a bill reintroduced to everyone's surprise by the ruling party, more than a year after the abandonment of a first version following the demonstrations which brought together tens of thousands of people in this country of the Caucasus, protests repressed by the police. This text, inspired by Russian legislation used by the Kremlin to repress dissident voices, would force organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register under this infamous label, under penalty of fines.
A law criticized by pro-EU
In December, Georgia was granted official candidate status for EU membership, but Tbilisi still needs to make judicial and electoral reforms, strengthen press freedom and curb the power of oligarchs before negotiations are actually launched.
The country has had the ambition for years to deepen its relations with the West, but the ruling party is accused of wanting, on the contrary, to bring this former Soviet republic closer to Russia. The return of this law, criticized by the European Union, risks reviving deep divisions.
“The Georgian Dream does not hide the fact that the law aims to neutralize Western influence,” said political scientist Ghia Nodia to AFP. “The party keeps saying that it is leading Georgia towards the EU, but in fact it is sabotaging Georgia's European path,” which is supported by around 80% of the population, according to opinion polls, -he continued.
A gathering planned for the evening
Dozens of people unfurled a giant European Union flag in front of Parliament in anticipation of a large rally planned for the evening. Aleko Elisashvili was warmly welcomed as he left the assembly by the protesters, some of whom congratulated him and hugged him. Last week, around 8,000 people had already demonstrated against the bill in Tbilisi.
After the confrontation, the president of the Legal Affairs Committee, Anri Okhanashvili, called “all opponents (…) to condemn this unworthy behavior of this so-called man”, also urging the NGOs present at the session to react. “Any provocation will receive an extremely severe response,” he warned, quoted by Public Radio and Television.
“Extremely severe response”
For his part, Mamuka Mdinaradze himself promised to “respond adequately” to the aggression, denouncing a “planned provocation”. His party defends the law on “foreign agents” as a text which will force organizations to demonstrate more “transparency” about their financing. Shortly before the incident, he had accused the opposition of spreading false information on this subject, assuring that “Russian laws have no place in Georgia”.
“We are determined to make independent decisions that best serve the interests of Georgia,” he continued, while saying he was ready to “align our legislation with European standards”.