The decision of the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, to "play fast and loose" with the rights of Northern Irish voters to elect an Assembly should be "a cause of anxiety, even affront", the SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, has declared.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference, Mr Durkan said the Good Friday agreement had been dogged by "too many false starts, false turns and false stops".
"I would like nothing more than to be able to stand here and speak of a political process that is stable, progressive and dynamic," he told delegates.
Though there are "some good stories", he said the peace process could no longer alternate "between sterile stand-offery and stilted choreography".
He said he was "very concerned" at the British government's decision to postpone the Assembly elections until the autumn since it could "see opportunity go cold".
The two governments must now call on pro-agreement parties to agree common and clear understandings and common and explicit undertakings for the future.
"The changes in criminal justice, normalisation, equality and human rights that the SDLP fought for and won must now be fully advanced," he said.
New rules to prevent future suspensions of the Assembly were needed to provide "a stable platform" for progress, not "for the job security of politicians".