by Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK
The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church has discussed complaints, including some filed by the Union of Orthodox Parents Organization, with tens of thousands of signatures against ID cards the Civil Registry Services hand out to the population. People believed that the ID cards have the seal of the devil inscribed, a curse known since the Medieval Age.
Public outcries have turned into “a witch hunt”, more typical of the European religious, historic and cultural tradition. Regarding the Caucasus and all its confessions, including the Orthodox one, fundamentalism has never been peculiar for the cultural tradition of the region. Especially its excessive forms. This is why believers and the session of the Holy Synod received so much attention.
The ID cards are meant to replace the domestic passport. The old card only had the name, address and a 3x4 photo. The Justice Ministry, which includes the Civil Registry Service in its structure, has decided to universalize the ID document. The digital ID card includes all information about its owner, including its electronic signature to request any note or document, sell or buy property, get married or divorced while stating tens of thousands of kilometers away from home. Moreover, the ID car may be used as driver’s license, ticket for municipal transport, electronic key to home and garage doors and so on. It may also be linked with bank accounts, becoming a credit card.
This car costs only $20 and has a lifespan of 10 years. The price for services this card offers may increase multifold. That is what the head of the State Registry Service Georgy Vashadze promises. He is the one who granted US Secretary Hillary Clinton a passport during her visit to Batumi, causing a nervous laughter of the US Ambassador John Bas. Vashadze boasted about the new technologies the government implements for the comfort of own citizens.
Georgia has achieved great success in making everything simpler. The authorities are honest when they say that “you can order a cup of coffee and a passport simultaneously at the new Justice House and receive them in the shortest terms possible”. Simplification of bureaucratic procedures is one of the favourites of President Saakashvili. It seems as though he had suffered from the Soviet bureaucratic labyrinths himself and wants to realize the old dream about a simple and understandable procedure of receiving documents.
But Saakashvili encountered a surprising problem with the ID card. With account of high authority of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Holy Synod could have banned one of his favourite projects, the universal electronic card. This is why the whole country was excited about the Synod’s decision. The Church has shown wisdom and offered a compromise. The decision was read out by the Archbishop of Gori and Samtavi Andrey; “The ID card project presented by the authorities, according to the theological and clerical teachings, has no seal of Antichrist and may be used. But the Holy Synod recommends the government to allow use of the old IDs”.
Thus, the Church did not speak out against new technologies, but clarified that if a man has doubts, he may use the old documents.
The Justice Ministry said that “citizens may obviously use old IDs together with the new ones”. Although, if we look at the previous statements of Vashadze, such opportunity does not imply automatically. The Justice Ministry was preparing people for recognition of the ID card as the only legal document for domestic use. It was doubtlessly done for the sake of banks or any other lobbyists interested in spreading the cards.
The story shows that the main problem of modernization and reforms is the reaction of the main state and public institutions, many of which remain conservative and cannot change.
