Georgia opposition debuts civil blockchain project ahead of critical elections

Georgian member of parliament Giorgi Vashadze wants to bring his country into the digital age and he wants to use blockchain technology to do it. 

The coalition of the United National Movement (UNM) — the political opposition group of which Vashadze is a member — has partnered with Rarilabs to release a new blockchain solution for public administration. 

Rarilabs is the development outfit behind Rarimo — a zero-knowledge (ZK), privacy-centric blockchain protocol — which has built the new blockchain solution called United Space. United Space is part of the UNM's vision of a digitized administration in which government services are streamlined and participation in civil society is incentivized in a form of universal income. 

However, the implementation of this blockchain solution — and the digital future it aims to deliver — is highly dependent on the outcome of the Oct. 26 parliamentary elections. 

The success of United Space, and indeed the Southern Caucasian country's democratic future, may hinge on whether the ruling party, Georgian Dream, is defeated.

Blockchain provides secure record-keeping and tackles corruption

Speaking to Cointelegraph in Tbilisi, Vashadze said that United Space will “One, simplify life for Georgian citizens. Second, make them engaged in the decision making process. And third is to generate income also for them.”

On this first point, the app would provide a form of digital national identity that Georgians will be able to use when they open businesses, pay their taxes and other types of administrative activities.

While Georgia has made great strides to streamlining its administrative processes, Vashadze notes that they still have a long way to go.

After the Soviet Union collapsed and Georgia became an independent republic in 1991. Amid the instability and uncertainty that defined this time, public administration became one of the most corrupt sectors of Georgian governance. 

Vashadze recalled to Cointelegraph how in order to receive simple documents — all of which were on paper — such as a driver's license you'd be expected to pay a bribe to the clerk.

Today's Georgian public administration is a far cry from the 1990s, but as Vashadze notes, the Public Service Hall, the central administrative body in Tbilisi which manages all registries for cars, businesses and notaries, only takes appointments in-person. There is no online portal. 

Tbilisi Public Service Hall. Source: Levan Gokadze

Engaging Georgians in civil society and beyond

UNM’s plan for United Space goes farther than public administration. 

Vashadze says that UNM, should they win the elections and are able to form a government, intends to also use the portal as a way for Georgians to participate in governance.

Namely, the platform will show draft laws or bills and allow users to vote on them. Vashadze imagines a system where a certain percentage of approval from Georgia citizens is required before the draft law could come before parliament. 

“We're calling it digital democracy, liquid democracy,” says Vashadze. ”If you don't like a certain official who is making the wrong decisions, you will be able to take back your vote, your support, and give it to somebody else.”

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The app would also contain a points-based system wherein users are rewarded with points for engaging in the civil aspects of United Space e.g. voting on proposed laws and voting. These points could be redeemed for lari, the country’s national currency. 

This, combined with a distribution scheme of Public Service Hall proceeds through the app, would serve as a novel form of universal basic income. ”So if you are an active citizen you are getting some benefits, financial benefits. There’s a financial incentive as well.”

According to Vashadze, enabling broader participation from the electorate, with eligibility and identity proven with ZK-proofs, will further bring more transparency and trust to the legislative process.

Vashadze says that, beyond the immediate administrative and government use cases, he also wants United Space to be a way that business can be set up in Georgia.

Similar to the Estonian e-government concept, he wants the app to be a one-stop super app for businesses that want to be based in Georgia, ideally attracted to the country by a straightforward regulatory structure and a 0% tax for businesses set up through United Space.

He also said that businesses like banks could use United Spaces API to integrate their own payment and service options into the ecosystem.

The elections loom

UNM and United Space have a lot of plans for Georgia’s future, but that future depends on the outcome of the Oct. 26 elections.

Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, is determined to hang on to power. In the spring, Georgian Dream pushed a “foreign agents” law through parliament amid massive protests and allegations of unfair dealing on the part of the ruling party. 

Under the guise of making foreign financing of non governmental organizations more transparent, the foreign agents law allows the government to crack down on political dissent, critics state. Transparency organizations have already reported being disqualified from observing the elections. 

Grafitti on parliament amid the protests. Source: Aaron Wood

Further doubt was cast on Georgian Dream's intentions as, during the protests, there were numerous reports of attacks on opposition leaders and incidents of police brutality against protestors.

Many officials within the Interior Ministry, which handles police action, as well as other Georgian Dream politicians, have fallen under international sanctions. 

One such individual, Zviad (Khareba) Kharazishvili of the Interior, has been placed in charge of election security, raising concerns of voter intimidation. If Georgian Dream can secure a victory, by hook or by crook, they aim to make good on their promise to ban major opposition parties should they return to power, effectively dealing a killing blow to Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union and pivot away from economic reliance on its neighbor to the north, Russia. 

In addition to Georgian Dream’s efforts to put their thumb on the scale, the opposition has been unable to form a strong coalition. As recently observed by Georgian political scientist Beka Chedia, this lack of unity could hand Georgian Dream a victory.

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Chedia wrote on Sept. 16 ”Voters find it difficult to be clear which small party is part of which alliance and what their promises to voters are. Some opposition parties and coalitions have changed their names several times and others are conducting the campaign under one name while they are registered with the Central Electoral Commission under another.”

While UNM’s hopes for a digital and more prosperous future may seem under an omnipresent pall of authoritarian aspirations, protests are already in the works.

Vashadze looks ahead, stating that UNM’s crypto and blockchain initiatives will be a key component of their coalition agreement, “After the elections, in accordance with our support, we will negotiate a coalition agreement with our other parties.”