The President of Georgia has called on the citizens of her country to collect signatures for a referendum on the law on “foreign agents” after the pro-government parliamentary majority overrode her veto. She said this during a video address to the protesters who gathered near the parliament, writes “Echo of the Caucasus”, reports UNN.
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Addressing the protesters in Tbilisi, the President of Georgia criticized the 84 MPs who voted for the law on "foreign agents," saying that they "will not be able to change the future of this country.
We must do everything we can to prepare for October 26, which will be our response to date
She called on Georgians to collect signatures to sign the referendum petition.
The energy that you have should be directed to collecting signatures and bringing them to me so that I can sign the call for a referendum - do we want a European future or Russian slavery. (...) We all have to prepare for October 26 together. I am next to you. I am you. And you are me
AddendumAddendum
The Georgian parliament overrode the president's veto of the law on “foreign agents” , which critics call Russian. With 84 votes, MPs voted in favor of the bill in its original form.
Almost the entire opposition left the meeting in protest and did not participate in the vote.
For reference
According to the Georgian Constitution, the president may, at the request of the parliament, the government, or at least 200,000 voters, call a referendum on issues defined by the Constitution and the law within 30 days of the request.
Recall
The EU has warned that the adoption of the law on "foreign agents" implies a derogation from three of the nine European integration recommendations for Tbilisi. The EU called on Georgia to return to the EU path and withdraw its support for this document.