The government must allow Assembly elections to take place in Northern Ireland next month or it will damage the credibility of the democratic process, a Conservative MP claimed today.
As the British government came under increasing pressure to state definitively that the elections would go ahead on May 29th, Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Mr Quentin Davies warned that constitutional credibility was at stake.
"I think it would be very difficult for the government to postpone these elections again without Conservative party support," he said.
"I do not think the government wants to go back to the House of Commons cap in hand and push through legislation for the second time this year postponing elections.
"By overriding constitutional rules, that would be damaging to the peace process and damaging to the credibility of the democratic process," he said.
Mr Davies was speaking after notices of the Assembly election were published today in Northern Ireland newspapers announcing that an election would take place on May 29th.
The Rev Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists were holding a candidates' launch in Belfast and the nationalist SDLP transmitted its first election broadcast.
Doubts remained about whether the vote would go ahead as Irish and British government officials continued to seek clarity from republicans about the IRA's future.
British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair urged Sinn Féin yesterday to make it clearer that the IRA was prepared to abandon all forms of paramilitary activity.
PA