Georgia drops legislation that provoked mass protests

TBILISI, Georgia: Georgia’s ruling party announced Thursday it was halting plans to introduce controversial “foreign agent” legislation that had triggered massive protests in the Caucasus country.

“As a party of government responsible to every member of society, we have decided to unconditionally withdraw this bill that we supported,” the Georgian Dream party said in a statement on its website.

The plans sparked two days of large-scale protest in the ex-Soviet country that aspires to joining the European Union and NATO.

Both the United States and the European Union had expressed concerns over bill that critics say mirrored legislation in Russia used to suppress civil society.

Georgian Dream said in its statement the bill had been “represented in a bad light and in a misleading way,” adding that it would launch public consultations to “better explain” the law’s purpose.

EU delegation in Georgia has hailed the ruling party’s decision to halt the ‘foreign agent’ bill.