TBILISI, May 1. /TASS/. The Georgian parliament has supported the bill on foreign agents at the plenary session in the second reading. The procedure was streamed live on the legislature's website.

"There are 83 votes in favor and 23 against. The bill (on foreign agents - TASS) has been adopted in the second reading," the Georgian parliament’s speaker, Shalva Papuashvili, said as he summarized the results.

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. The head of state 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 are demanding that the authorities abandon the document. On April 17, the Georgian parliament approved in the first reading the bill On the Transparency of Foreign Influence, which has drawn objections from President Salome Zourabichvili, the opposition and Western diplomats, who argue that it is an obstacle to Georgia’s integration into the European Union. Since April 15, the opposition and civil activists have been holding rallies against the bill in Tbilisi.

The ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party announced in early April that it had decided to reintroduce the bill to parliament. This happened a year after a similar initiative triggered mass protests, forcing the authorities to abandon the bill. Its text remains identical to last year’s, except for the term "agent of foreign influence." Instead, the term "organization promoting the interests of a foreign power" is used.