THE former Mid Ulster MP, the Rev William McCrea of the Democratic Unionist Party, has accused Sinn Fein's Mr Martin McGuinness of stealing the Westminster seat from him with fraudulent votes.
Mr McCrea, speaking yesterday at the Northern Ireland Forum on a motion on electoral malpractice, said he believed more than 2,000 fraudulent postal and proxy votes had been cast in the Mid Ulster constituency in the May 1st general election.
"If justice was done, and was seen to be done, I would still be the member of parliament for Mid Ulster. The people of Mid Ulster have been denied an elected representative clearly because of electoral fraud," he said.
Mr McCrea also claimed that details of fraudulent claims had been given to the North's chief electoral officer, Mr Pat Bradley, and said he wanted to know if Mr Bradley had acted on these. "If he is not prepared to do something he should step down," he said.
Mr Bradley later said he did not want to get involved in a public discourse with Mr McCrea. On the question of possible prosecutions, he said: "Investigations and surveys take time. If Mr McCrea has any information on this matter, I would be pleased to meet him."
During the debate, members of political parties represented at the forum, which the SDLP and Sinn Fein have boycotted, voiced concern about voting malpractice in the recent local and Westminster elections. Most allegations were directed at Sinn Fein.
A motion was unanimously agreed calling on the government to instigate an early review of voting procedures for all future elections.
Mr Steve McBride of the Alliance Party said he believed a serious government response was required and the SDLP should be involved in any review undertaken by the forum.
A Sinn Fein spokesman said: "We have heard these claims before, but nobody has any proof. If Willie McCrea has any proof, let him produce it or shut up."