Leaders in dark over Assembly election date

The Government came under fire today for failing to name a new date for elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly in legislation published at Westminster.

Following the release of a Bill formally postponing the elections planned for May 29, the leader of the Alliance Party, David Ford, said the failure to name a new date was ridiculous.

“It hardly inspires me with confidence when the Government cannot name a date in the Bill after it said elections would happen in the autumn,” he said.

“The date for the elections should be made absolutely clear in the legislation.

“If it is not, it will only feed the suspicion that the Government has given up on reaching a deal this year.”

Last week British Prime Minister Tony Blair called off the Assembly poll because of a lack of progress in the peace process.

Mr Blair insisted the failure of the IRA to give a clear indication that it was abandoning paramilitary activity for good meant the Government could not restore devolution nor hold meaningful elections to the 108-seat Assembly.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern expressed his government’s opposition to the decision.

It was the second time this year the Government had postponed the poll.

In March Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy changed the election to May 29 from its original date of May 1.

The postponement came four days into the Assembly Election campaign.

The Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists, the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party and Alliance all held events last week formally launching their campaigns.

Party political broadcasts from David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists, the SDLP, DUP and Sinn Fein were also aired in the province.

The Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections and Periods of Suspension) Bill published today enables the Electoral Commission to remunerate parties who spent money launching their campaigns.

It also allows Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy to set the new date for the election at a time of his choosing.

Mr Ford said the Alliance, in conjunction with the Liberal Democrats, would be trying to force the Government to insert an election date into the Bill when it was debated next week in the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

“We will be challenging the Government to name a suitable date which I believe should be no later than October 23,” he said.

The Alliance leader also queried whether it was constructive to continue paying Assembly members during the suspension of devolution.

“It appears that the Government is proposing to keep former MLAs in suspended animation and pay them a salary,” he observed.

“This could only be justified if it were for a short time until an election date is defined in law.

“It would be essential that former Members were shown to be both working for their constituents and to restore devolution.

“If not, the Government should make payments in line with a redundancy package. There is no justification for extended payments if devolution is not on the way back.”