A Georgian opposition lawmaker attacked a member of the ruling party as he tried to present a controversial "foreign agents" bill in parliament that has roiled the Caucasus nation because of its similarities to legislation in Russia used to severely restrict dissent and the activity of civil society groups.
Aleko Elisashvili rushed the podium on the parliamentary floor on April 15 and punched Mamuka Mdinaradze, leader of the parliamentary faction of the ruling Georgian Dream party, sparking mayhem in the legislature that took several minutes to quell.
"Your Russian mother is a motherf***er," Elisashvili could be heard yelling as he lunged at Mdinaradze to strike him in the head.
Mdinaradze appeared to be unharmed by the attack and after a short break was back heading the legal affairs committee session in parliament.
"I don't respond to threats with street methods. We will give a proper response," Mdinaradze said.
Earlier this month Mdinaradze said the Georgian Dream party plans to reintroduce a bill that would oblige noncommercial organizations and media outlets receiving foreign funding and engaged in broadly defined "political" activities to report their activities to the authorities.
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Georgians March Against Russian-Style 'Foreign Agents' Law
The legislation, which sparked mass protests when first introduced last year, causing the government to withdraw the bill, would also introduce wide oversight powers by the authorities and potential criminal sanctions for undefined criminal offenses.
As the scuffle took place inside parliament, several hundred protesters were gathered outside to express their anger over the reintroduction of the law. There were no reports of violence.
This new bill is identical to the one introduced and then withdrawn last year, Georgian Dream has said, except for one change: The term "foreign agent" would be replaced by the more circumlocutory "organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power."
The party insists the bill is simply copied and pasted from U.S. legislation and does not imitate Russia's "foreign agents" law, but the newly resurrected On Transparency of Foreign Influence bill is seen as a product of Georgia's homegrown struggle for political power.
Its return bodes yet another bout of internal political strife, sharper pressure on the government's opponents, and yet more stress on Tbilisi's increasingly fragile relations with its Western partners.
Once approved by the legal affairs committee, which is controlled by Georgian Dream and its coalition allies, the bill will proceed to a first reading in parliament.