The Legal Affairs Committee of the Georgian Parliament on Monday approved the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence.
The Parliament will now vote on the bill in its third hearing within a plenary session on Tuesday.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Sunday said she would veto the controversial bill, however the ruling party has enough votes to override her veto.
The “foreign agents” bill requires organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence or face fines. The ruling party says it is needed to enhance the transparency of NGO funding and protect the country from outside interference.
Protesters are concerned that the law would be used by the government to clamp down on dissent, and would harm Georgia’s hopes of joining the European Union.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators spent the night outside Tbilisi’s parliament building, dancing as it rained through the dark hours. Once the sun rose on Monday, MPs from the governing party arriving ahead of the session were met with shouts and chants from the crowd.
Riot police in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi moved in to clear thousands of people demonstrating through the night against a proposed law.
Two US citizens and one Russian were among 20 people arrested at protests, Russian state news reported, citing the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs.