Deadlock over policing threatens Assembly election

The British government may be forced to pull the plug in the new year on plans for an Assembly election in the North because of the deadlock over policing, ministers were warned today.

As Assembly members prepared to debate a motion accusing Northern Secretary Peter Hain of dictating how Stormont conducts its business, UUP leader Reg Empey alleged the rival DUP were not as keen as his party about a March election because of problems within the party.

Empey also claimed the DUP’s refusal to name a date for the transfer of policing and justice powers, a key demand of Sinn Féin if it is to endorse the police, could result in Mr Hain facing an awkward choice on January 30 when he is supposed to dissolve the Assembly for fresh elections.

Empey said: “I’m not convinced by DUP claims that everything has been resolved by their meeting last Friday.

“As someone who has been through these sort of crisis meetings before, I can tell you all they have done is paper over the cracks for the time being.

“From what we can pick up there are serious problems with this process, particularly on the issue of policing and justice, and the secretary of state may yet face a real challenge at the end of January over whether there should be elections.

“Originally the DUP were pushing for an election. I am not so sure they are as enthusiastic now as they were after the St Andrew's talks. They have realised it is not going to be as smooth a process as they thought it was.”

The DUP insists Sinn Féin must publicly declare support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the courts and the rule of law if there is going to be a power-sharing administration at Stormont.

In an article last Thursday for a republican newspaper, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said it was possible for both parties to resolve their differences and deliver power-sharing by March as envisaged by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

However, Mr Adams said he needed a definite date for the transfer of justice and policing powers from Westminster to Stormont, agreement on the type of government department that would handle it and no role for MI5 in civic policing before he could recommend a change in Sinn Féin’s policing policy at a special party conference.

The DUP is adamant it could take years before policing and justice powers are devolved.

Senior negotiators insist there will have to be a credible testing period for Sinn Féin before unionists could have any confidence in a devolved administration handling policing and justice.

As MLAs gathered for today’s debate, Empey said Assembly members needed to assert their own independence from Mr Hain rather than let him dictate their business.

“The way the secretary of state conducted the Hain Mark One Assembly between May and November this year) was to stifle debate and interfere as much as possible,” the East Belfast Assembly member said.

“He vetoed motion after motion properly brought forward by the Business Committee, especially any attempt by us to debate his plans for local government under the review of public administration.

“The first meeting of the Hain Mark Two Transitional Assembly on November 24 also saw the secretary of state trying to stage manage events even down to the trivial detail of who would or would not be allowed to speak, even though the Business Committee had already decided.

“How can public confidence be established in the Assembly if it is seen merely as a creature of the NIO, with no independence whatsoever, even over minor matters?

“How can we establish any credibility that we are capable of taking on responsibility for a huge budget and government departments if we cannot work together here to determine simple matters like debates etc?”

Today’s debate was also expected to focus on Mr Hain’s role in the controversy over whether Ian Paisley fulfilled requirements on November 24 that he should indicate he would be first minister next year.