Belfast, Northern Ireland (AP) – Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, who is looking to join Ireland, welcomed a “new era” for Northern Ireland on Saturday as it won the most seats in the country. ‘Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time time. A historic achievement.
In almost all the votes in the UK local elections on Thursday, Shin Fain won 27 of the 90 seats in the Assembly, while the Democratic Unionist Party, which has dominated the Northern Ireland legislature for two decades, won 24 seats. The victory meant that Shin Fein was entitled to hold the office of Prime Minister in Belfast, for the first time since the founding of Northern Ireland as a majority Protestant state in 1921.
The centrist Alliance Party, which has not been identified as either a nationalist or a united, has seen a huge surge in support and is set to be another big by-election winner, with 17 seats.
The victory was an important milestone for Sinn Fein, who has long been associated with the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group that used bombs and ammunition during decades of Irish Republican militant leadership, a Protestant loyalist militant in Northern Ireland. And the UK army and police.
“Today marks the beginning of a new era,” said Michele O’Neill, vice president of Sinn Féin, shortly before the announcement of the final results. “Regardless of my religion, political or social background, it is my responsibility to do politics.”
O’Neill stressed the need for a meeting of Northern Irish politicians next week to form the executive branch, Northern Ireland’s redistributed government. If not formed within six months, the administration will be destroyed, leading to new elections and more uncertainty.
“There’s space in this state for everyone, for all of us,” O’Neill said. “We need to restore executive power and put money in people’s pockets to regulate health care. “People can’t stand it.”
Although Sinn Fein’s success signals a historic change that shows a decline in support for unionist parties, it is unclear what will happen next due to difficult power -sharing policies in Northern Ireland and the resulting controversy over post -Brexit agreements. .
Under a mandatory power-sharing system established by the 1998 peace agreement that ended decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict, the positions of prime minister and first deputy minister were divided between the largest unionist party and the largest. nationalist party. Both positions need to be held for the government to function, but the Democratic Unionist Party suggests it may not be under prime minister Sinn Fein.
The DUP also said it would refuse to join the new government unless there were significant changes to the border agreement after Brexit known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Post-Brexit rules, which took effect after Britain left the EU, imposed customs and border controls on some goods entering Northern Ireland from other parts of the UK. An agreement was reached to keep an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. The foundation of the peace process.
But this angered many unionists, arguing that the new controls had created a barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, weakening their British identity. In February, DUP member Paul Giovanni stepped down as prime minister as post-Brexit tensions sparked a new political crisis in Northern Ireland.
Saturday’s results brought Shin Fein’s latest goal of being one step closer to a united Ireland, although Shin Fein kept the union out of the spotlight during this year’s campaign, which was dominated by rising costs. lifestyle.
O’Neill said that until the unification of Ireland, there would be no change in the constitution until voters decided. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou MacDonald said on Friday that any unity referendum could be planned over the next five years.
Polling expert John Curtis, a professor of political science at Stratklaid University, said the recent election results in Northern Ireland were a legacy of Brexit.
“The unionist vote is divided by public divisions on whether the Northern Ireland Protocol is something that could be satisfactorily amended if it is repealed,” he wrote on the BBC website.
Getting the DUP to join the new government and try to pressure the EU into accepting major changes to post-Brexit deals would be a headache for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he added. Johnson’s Conservative party lost at least 450 seats in the local election on Thursday.
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Hui reported from London.
Source: Huffpost
