Priests, accompanied by clerics from all over the country organized a protest in the capital. They asked the MPs to stop the implementation of electronic tagging, ID codes that replace a person’s name and surname, automatic collection of personal data, and forced identification of individuals, reports Info-Prim Neo. “We demand that our demands, along with His Holiness Vladimir’s and Synod commissions’, be heard; numerous requests have been made, and we ask that the new design, and the Soviet-type passports that were prolonged indefinitely, be left without an ID code. In this way, citizens who refuse to have an ID code will still have a form of identification”, said jurist Elena Bitca. Another protester says that the bill will transform the people’s names in 13 digit codes, whereas the number 13 is considered an apocalyptic one, “the number of the beast”. “We were baptized into Christianity. We have a name, and this name should be the one figuring in our IDs. We do not want to change our IDs into some electronic files that no one will understand”, said protester Maria Plesu. The Parliament approved last week, in the first reading, a bill that proposes changes to the identification cards’ design, making it smaller, voiding the residence file. MP Alexandru Stoianoglo, head of Committee on National Security, Defense and Public Order, says that this bill has nothing to do with Soviet-type passports, and that they will remain unchanged. “We have a Government resolution from 2003, which stipulates that all passports will remain valid until their holders’ death. Design nr.9 will be of legal nature, without of a code and a chip, it is simply going to be a piece of plastic, a temporary ID form” stated Alexandru Stoianoglo. The protesters moved from “Maica Domnului” Cathedral Square to the Republican Palace Square, where they will continue protesting until Thursday, when the bill will be discussed at the Parliament’s meeting. The people who came from farther away have brought with tents and supplies.