Assembly election date 'could be a mistake'

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain could be making a mistake in setting March 7 as the date for a fresh Assembly election, he was warned today.

As Mr Hain prepared to unveil emergency legislation in the House of Commons to implement British and Irish government plans for power sharing in the North, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan was concerned that the Democratic Unionists could use a new Assembly election to slow down political progress.

“The SDLP is certainly ready for an election,” the Foyle MP claimed.

“We are not saying ‘do not have an election’. We are merely making the point that if the commitment to have the St Andrews Agreement mandated was all about sealing the deal, a referendum is the clearest and cleanest way of doing that.

“In a referendum people could not come with their own interpretations of what a deal is about. They could in an election manifesto.

“The Prime Minister does not want his successor after he leaves to be told by the DUP the deal was simply its manifesto and nobody else’s.

“There is a danger that you could have them saying: vote for us and you get a deal for one-term Assembly. If the DUP gets an increased mandate, does that mean the rest of us have to accept a one-term deal?

“The DUP could try to handcuff the governments and other parties in an election on delaying a date for devolution and policing, saying that was what it was mandated to do so by its voters. The DUP’s approach to an election could be handcuff yourselves in manifesto and stitch everyone else in at the same time.

“The SDLP would go into an election with a very clear agenda of what we want to do with restored institutions and a clear record of consistency. We will argue that the best way of holding Sinn Féin and the DUP to account is a vote for us.”

The Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Bill being rushed through the House of Commons over the next week could pave the way for the appointment of DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness as shadow first and deputy first ministers in eight days’ time.

But with Sinn Féin still to publicly endorse the Police Service of Northern Ireland, there are concerns in Stormont, London and Dublin that the November 24 deadline could be the first to slip in British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s timetable for devolution.

Unionists and nationalists will focus on what the Bill has to say about a ministerial oath.

Sources say the pledge of office will be modelled on paragraph six of Mr Blair and Mr Ahern’s St Andrews Agreement which calls for unequivocal support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the courts and upholding the rule of law.

The DUP wants Mr McGuinnss to take the oath next week.

That could be difficult if Sinn Féin is not in a position to call a special party conference to change its policing policy.

Mr Durkan warned the British government the DUP could also use an imminent election to try to squeeze concessions from ministers over the next week as the Bill passed through Parliament.

He said his party had no problem with a ministerial oath which was self-contained and supported the rule of law.

But he insisted support for rule of law would have implications for unionists too and should place an obligation on them to respect the decisions of the Parades Commission on controversial marches in Northern Ireland.

“It just shouldn’t mean Sinn Féin support for policing,” the SDLP leader argued.

“Proper commitment to the rule of law should mean unionists recognising the authority of the Parades Commission – especially those unionists who behaved disgracefully over the Whiterock Orange parade in west Belfast last year.

“We will be making that point.”