Parliament’s majority leader denounces opposition MP’s “commissioned provocation”

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Monday claimed the physical assault by Aleko Elisashvili, the leader of the Citizens opposition party, against him on Monday had been a “commissioned provocation”.

Mdinaradze’s comments came after a discussion on the controversial domestic bill on the transparency of foreign influence in the Parliament's Committee on Legal Issues took a violent turn, with Elisashvili physically assaulting the lawmaker.

It was not accidental, it was planned, and I have proof of it”, Mdinaradze alleged, while denouncing Elisashvili’s “cowardly action”.

The Committee on Monday started discussing the bill, which calls for registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.

Mdinaradze rejected allegations around the bill, as voiced by a part of the domestic opposition and the non-governmental sector.

The Georgian draft law, reintroduced after the original bill was retracted last year following public protests, has also been criticised by a part of Georgia’s international partner governments and diplomatic representations.