The Democratic Unionist Party boycotts the formation of the Belfast Regional Assembly because it believes the Brexit protocol on the region separates it from the UK
The Democratic Unionist Party’s boycott of the Autonomous Assembly in Belfast will force the London government to call new elections this Friday. The DUP does not accept to be part of the institutions created in the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, as it believes that the Brexit protocol over the region separates it from the United Kingdom.
In a telephone call to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the new British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, expressed his desire to find a negotiated solution on Wednesday. While he was Secretary of the Economy in Johnson’s cabinet, he already warned his colleagues that tensions over this issue should not lead to a trade war with the European Union.
The protocol governs the border system of goods traded between Great Britain, which is outside the Common Market, and Northern Ireland, which remains in the Common Market and the UK Market. The purpose of that design was to avoid a border in the interior of the island of Ireland. The procedures and controls now affect traffic between Northern Ireland ports and those of Scotland, Wales and England.
The largest trade union party paralyzed autonomy with the resignation of the province’s prime minister, refusing to restore it after the May elections, which gave the symbolic presidency to Sinn Féin, traditionally associated with the IRA. The DUP used the peculiar rules of shared governance to prevent the formation of the Assembly. If things continue like this, there should be new elections in six months.
The delegates elected in March went to the institutions’ headquarters, Stormont, this Thursday, but nothing was demanded except the bitter tone that a new election campaign will have. The British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, is calling the election this Friday. With December 15 underlined for the vote. It is probable that when the elect return, the Assembly will not be able to be formed either.
Heaton-Harris and Irish Foreign Secretary Simon Coveney met in the European Parliament. They resume their cordial relationship after the appointment of the former by former Prime Minister Liz Truss. The change of tone was followed by dialogues about the technical aspects of the protocol. London is said to have completed the border movement database software, which, if shared with Brussels, could solve much of the problem.
Of all the prime ministers the UK has had since Brexit, Sunak is the most convinced. Theresa May and Truss voted to stay in the EU and Johnson picked the daisy to the point of writing two drafts of his Sunday column in the ‘Sunday Telegraph’, one advocating to stay and the other for marching.
Sunak was an unknown delegate at the time and his decision to support the ‘out’ in the referendum upset David Cameron, who saw him as the future of the party. Those who know him have described him as a politician who is not sentimental about Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, for the money they cost England. Brexit, he said, would allow for a more agile economy than within the Union.
He inherited a bill from Boris Johnson that, according to experts, is contrary to international treaty law. When passed, it gives ministers the power to withdraw parts of the protocol. It is a wrecking ball of the difficult diplomacy between Brussels, Dublin and London, a stimulus for the trade war. Complying with the DUP, founded by a fanatical preacher, Ian Paisley, would be diplomatic success.
Sinn Féin, the Social Democratic Party and Workers’ Party (SDLP) and the Alliance have come together to demand that if elections are held and the DUP continues to boycott, London and Dublin should rule together. They also want to reform the Stormont rules so that one party cannot overturn the institutions. But those non-consensual changes would destroy the Good Friday Agreement, which is approaching its 25th anniversary.
On Wednesday, the House of Commons passed the bill making Irish Gaelic official in Northern Ireland and recognizing the Ulster Scots. And the minister announced that he will be funding termination of pregnancy services, three years after their illegality was revoked in the province. London is politically balancing its ads, autonomy is being exercised by officials and politics is being submerged in another campaign.
Source: La Verdad
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