Belarusian civil society in quest of cooperation with politicians

In the last two weeks, a public discussion about the place of Belarusian CSOs in politics their attitude towards politicians spontaneously started in social networks. This debate follows the recent split in the civil society, when some supported the ‘realism’ represented by ‘Tell the Truth’ during the last presidential campaign, and others supported ‘romantics’ represented by Statkevich and other supporters of the boycott/disregard (ie, non-participation in political campaigns on moral grounds). The conflict in the opposition and the failure of the boycott strategy, have prompted civil society activists to stay away from any political activity and to assuming the role of moral judges. In the past two weeks, opinion leaders, such as Karbalevich, Drakakhrust, Zisser, Bobrovich and others have raised the debate in social media about the credibility and appropriateness of such a position.