The committee's session was streamed live on the legislative body's website, with Henri Okhanashvili, the committee's head, delivering the report. As per protocol, the third reading entailed tweaking the draft law with editorial amendments, of which there were none. The draft now heads for deliberation in the third reading during the plenary session.

Opponents of the foreign agents draft law have been staging yet another protest since Sunday. They congregated on Rustaveli Avenue near the parliament, staying overnight to disrupt the deputies' consideration of the initiative in the third reading during the Committee on Legal Affairs' meeting on the morning of May 13. By Monday morning, the police had dispersed the protesters from the parliament's service entrances.

On May 1, the Georgian Parliament gave its nod to the draft law "On Transparency of Foreign Influence" in the second reading. It faced pushback from President Salome Zourabichvili, the opposition, and Western diplomats, who saw it as a stumbling block to the country's integration into the European Union.

The leaders of the ruling party, "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia," argue that it only aims to ensure transparency in foreign funding for the non-governmental sector and media. Zourabichvili declared her intention to veto the draft law if it passes all three readings.

AzVision.az

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