THE ABOLITION of “community designation” and reform of voting arrangements in the North’s Assembly and Executive will be at the core of proposals aimed at “developing devolution”, the North’s First Minister has said.
Peter Robinson made his most detailed call yet for changing some key aspects of the Belfast and St Andrews agreements which set the foundations for the present Stormont institutions.
He said community designation, by which Assembly members declare themselves nationalist, unionist or “other”, was discriminatory and undemocratic.
“New voting arrangements for the Assembly and the Executive will be required,” he said.
“Community designation is fundamentally flawed. It is deeply undemocratic, it entrenches community division and hinders the development of normal politics in Northern Ireland and in practice means that the votes of all Assembly members are not equal.” In an address, promoted in advance by the DUP, Mr Robinson envisaged a smaller Assembly and a streamlined Executive. Referring to his objective of what he termed “a more normal form of government”, which did not include a coalition of parties based on Assembly strength, he said reform of Stormont was a key policy aim alongside devolution of policing and justice powers.
“In place of community designation, we propose the introduction of weighted majority voting,” he said. He told his audience, which included UUP leader Sir Reg Empey, that SDLP and Ulster Unionist ministers “have been less than responsible in how they have approached Executive business”.
Reaction to the speech was mixed. Alliance leader David Ford said: “I welcome his comments. However, no clear strategy has been presented to deliver an end to institutionalised segregation and division on our streets.”
SDLP deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell accused Sinn Féin and the DUP of having “devolution up, but not up and running”.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness dismissed the proposals as “fantasy politics”.
