Religion — A Third Force in Georgian Politics?

EurasiaNet reports that with the 21 parliamentary election in Georgia less than a week away, a new opposition political party is making a surprisingly strong showing in opinion polls on the eve of the crucial vote. The Christian Democratic Movement founded by Giorgi Targamadze, former head of news at the opposition Imedi TV channel, includes many of the station’s personalities and currently has a rating of 11 percent according to one opinion poll. Somewhat controversial, however, is its stated strong support for the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Targamadze contends that since the Church traditionally has played an important role defending Georgia’s national interests, it is “very important” that now, amidst the country’s various crises, the constitution should “strengthen” the Church’s role.

“People feel themselves more defended when the Georgian state was strong and the Orthodox Church had a strong position. This is a Georgian tradition,” he said in an interview with EurasiaNet.

Expanding the Church’s educational and social welfare activities is an “important” step in that direction, he said.

“We want to raise … the status of the Orthodox Church to strengthen the church’s role in the development of social [programs] and the development of education programs,” Targamadze said. “[W]e think that to keep our national identity, the strength of the Georgian Orthodox Church is very important for the country.”

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Some critics, though, have questioned the reasoning behind the party’s quest for an official religion. The Georgian Orthodox Church was already granted a “special status” in the Georgian Constitution, based on a concordat signed by the government and the Church in 2002.

“I don’t know exactly what they mean under the title of official religion,” commented sociologist Kachachkishvili. “It [Georgian Orthodox Church] is defended in the constitution with a special status.”

As have other observers, Kachachkishvili contends that Georgian political parties have turned to religion to capitalize on the popularity of the Church, which ranks in opinion polls as among the most trusted Georgian institutions.

“This is not only the disease of this political party, but a sickness of all political parties in Georgia,” he said, referring to political parties’ championship of the Church. “They try to use the name and reputation of the Georgian Orthodox Church on behalf of their political image. All political parties just want to show that they are close to the Georgian Church.”

Representatives of the Georgian Orthodox Church could not be reached for comment.