The British Minister for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, on Friday ruled out the possibility of holding an election in December, despite the political paralysis, and promised to work towards «restoring a firmly devolved government».
«At midnight on October 28, I was tasked with calling elections to the Assembly. Since then, my interaction with the political parties has continued,» he said in a statement, in which he stressed the existence of «valuable conversations» to address the situation. «I have listened to their sincere concerns about the impact and cost of an election at this time,» he has unveiled.
«I can confirm that there will be no Assembly elections in December or before the festive season. Current legislation requires me to set an election date within twelve weeks of October 28 and I will make an announcement next week before Parliament to lay out my next steps,» Heaton-Harris assured.
In this regard, he stressed that his «duty» is to «create the right environment for the parties in Northern Ireland to work together to restore the devolved institutions and address crucial issues affecting the Northern Irish people.» «I do not take this duty lightly nor do I ignore the very real concerns that people have about the cost of living,» he concluded.
The Stormont Assembly has ahead of it a process to regain the institutionality of Northern Irish devolved government now with the republican Sinn Féin party at the helm, following its victory in last May’s elections.
Sinn Féin, led by Michelle O’Neill, won 27 of the 90 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and is currently the leading political force ahead of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), with 25 seats, and the Alliance Party, with 17. The Ulster Unionist Party has nine seats and the Social Democratic and Labor Party has eight seats.
The DUP refuses to return to the Executive until the dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol is resolved on its terms, so the process has been blocked for months after a failed vote to nominate the Stormont chairman and deputy chairman.
