The parties describe the elections as unnecessary by assuring that nothing will change if the boycott of the unionists persists
The British Minister for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, will announce the date for new elections in Northern Ireland next week, as the deadline for forming an Executive is due at midnight on Thursday. The meeting of parliamentary groups in the Belfast Assembly was unsuccessful, due to the refusal of the Democratic Unionist Party to participate in autonomy.
The DUP brought down the regional government in February, through the resignation of the chief minister, Paul Givan. After the May elections, which gave victory to Sinn Féin, the largest unionist party refused to participate in the complex system of restoration of autonomy. It does not accept the validity of the Brexit Protocol for the province, which according to the DUP separates the province from the rest of the United Kingdom.
Conor Murphy, of Sinn Féin, adviser for the Economy in the Executive before its collapse, pointed out that the failure in the attempt to restore the assembly “is not because the parties do not agree among themselves, but because the DUP He doesn’t want to work with anyone.” Party leader Michelle O’Neill warned of a “strange turn” by the British minister.
Heaton Harris has stated in recent days that she was going to call the elections if autonomy was not restored, and the announcement has been postponed until next week. He will meet with the parties, he promised. But he recalled that he is required by law to call the elections within 12 weeks after the collapse of autonomy and that the parties operate with those rules as well.
The institutions created in the Good Friday Agreement have operated for less than half the time since 1998. But current circumstances seem dangerous for their future. Matthew O’Toole, MP in Belfast for the Social Democratic and Labor Party, representative of moderate Catholic nationalism, told the BBC that “it looks like the wake of autonomy”.
DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson blamed London. “We have had six months to do something with the Protocol, and in those months we have had three prime ministers and we have not seen the necessary progress.” He complained that in the circumstances the government could have extended the deadline, saying it “needs more time to find a solution and for Northern Ireland to restore its place in the UK’s internal market”.
border controls
The Protocol, incompatible with the wishes of the DUP, regulates trade between Northern Ireland, which remains in the common market, and in the British market, with the rest of the United Kingdom, which has been left out of the common market after Brexit. Unionists in particular resent border procedures and controls between Northern Irish ports and those in Scotland, Wales and England.
A statistical study published this week by academics from Queen’s University, in Belfast, indicates that 54% of the population believe that the Protocol is appropriate if the grace periods, decided by London, are maintained in the application of border controls. 70% believe that there must be some special procedures in the region, and 60% that Brexit is not good for the United Kingdom.
Minister Heaton-Harris was blunt in stating that the British Government is not considering the idea of substituting autonomy for a governorship of the province shared by Dublin and London. The idea was floated by Sinn Féin and has received support from the SDLP, perhaps to prevent voter flight. Without the consensus of unionism, it would break the constitutional agreement of 1998. Voices of violent “loyalism” warned that they are vigilant against maneuvers of this type.
The London and Dublin governments already have a coordinating body, with its headquarters in Belfast, but their approach has been to advance the tripartite negotiation, adding Brussels, on the Protocol. Heaton-Harris and his Irish colleague, Simon Coveney, signaled progress during Liz Truss’ tenure in the British government.
The parties consider the elections unnecessary, because the result will not change anything, if the negotiations on the Protocol do not convince the DUP. Meanwhile, counselors who acted as interims in their departments have left their posts. Officials with even fewer powers will administer a very deficit region, despite the annual donation of 17,500 million euros by the Government of London. The central government minister will dictate the next budget.
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