The SDLP Assembly member Mr Mark Durkan yesterday invited Gen John de Chastelain to discuss his prospects and requirements for achieving decommissioning with all parties to the Belfast Agreement.
This would resolve misunderstandings about his recommendations and could break the political impasse, Mr Durkan said.
Collectively reaffirming the "importance and integrity" of task of the head of the decommissioning body could lead to a collective effort by the parties to achieve the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement, restoring confidence in their willingness to deliver government for Northern Ireland.
Addressing a conference in London entitled Making the Good Friday Agreement Work, organised by the cross-party parliamentary and community group Friends of Ireland, Mr Durkan said that Gen de Chastelain should be invited to speak directly to all the parties to discuss his prospects for decommissioning.
"Let's see if on that basis, whether there isn't something we can do collectively," he said. "The agreement has been injured, but the agreement is not dead or gone. It is there for the taking and the making again."
Also addressing the conference, the former Sinn Fein Assembly member, Mr Alex Maskey, said the suspension of the institutions, "at the stroke of a pen", removed the democratic rights of people in Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Mr Maskey suggested that the Ulster Unionist Party and its leader, Mr David Trimble, had used internal difficulties "to dilute the provisions of the agreement", and he urged unionism to sell the positive aspects of the Belfast Agreement to the broader unionist community.
He said he regretted the manner in which the Mitchell review had ended with publicly ambiguous positions.
"Perhaps we made a mistake or a blunder and we do need clarity . . . ambiguity and fudge became the hallmark of all that," he said.
The Northern Ireland Minister, Mr George Howarth, told the conference that the government intended to hold discussions with the parties "shortly" to agree a way forward to break the deadlock.
"Trust, confidence and inclusivity are the means by which we will get there. It will be more difficult than last time. But at least we all know what is needed and at least we have done it before."