A new development stage in the left forces’ coalition

On April 17^th in Minsk, “Green” Party, “Fair World” Belarusian Left Party and the organizing committee of the Belarusian Labour Party leaders held a joint press conference.

So far, the political coalition between the leftist parties is limited to the creation of an informal ideological leftist platform. However, there is some progress in the building up of a coalition, which is evidenced by joint public appearances of the left-wing parties’ leaders.

The leftist platform was created on April 12^th, at a joint meeting of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada), Belarusian Left Party “Fair World”, “Green” Party and the organizing committee of the Belarusian Labour Party. This platform is not a formal political bloc, rather a framework for joint actions by ideologically close forces.

The ‘Platform’ declared a joint action to be held on May 1^st, as well as the creation of a leftist information web portal. Organizers said the platform would not have a formal leader. However, on April 17^th, during the press conference they did not rule out the nomination of a single leftist candidate for the 2015 presidential elections.

Inside the Belarusian opposition, coalitions form due to both, the political momentum (upcoming local and presidential elections) and the lack of human and financial resources which the opposition parties and movements could contribute individually. The most explicit distinctive feature of the Platform is that it is ideologically orienting towards the promotion of social-democratic values and workers’ rights’ protection.

Political capacities of the new leftist platform (as well as the ‘trio’s’ BPF, For Freedom and Tell the Truth and other opposition groups and individual players) will be tested soon – during the local elections in 2014. The 2012 Parliamentary campaign has demonstrated that the opposition is more prone to scattered actions, rather than preserving coalitions before, during and after the elections.