The UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, has accused the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, of "running scared" from a television debate featuring the North's four main party leaders.
Dr Paisley announced he would not take part in the BBC's Spotlight podium discussion with Mr Trimble, SDLP leader Mr John Hume, and Sinn Fein president Mr Gerry Adams scheduled for tomorrow night.
Mr Trimble said voters were left wondering why Dr Paisley had been reluctant to appear on extended television interviews throughout the election campaign. He also accused the DUP of "hypocrisy" after the DUP candidate for East Derry, Mr Gregory Campbell, participated in a UTV debate with the Sinn Fein candidate, Mr Pat Doherty, last week.
Rejecting the UUP criticism, Dr Paisley said he was not happy with the programme's podium format nor did it suit his schedule. He claimed he had called for a head-to-head debate with Mr Trimble, an offer the UUP leader had not accepted. The DUP will now be represented on the programme by the party's North Belfast candidate, Mr Nigel Dodds.
The UUP's Strangford candidate, Mr David McNarry, has called on voters to trust the political institutions to deliver decommissioning. Only if the structures in place were allowed to continue functioning could a full implementation of the Belfast Agreement, including decommissioning, be achieved, he added.
"Anyone who thinks we can tear it all up and start again is living in the past and in complete denial of political reality. This is exactly the DUP's plan. Don't let them wreck it," he concluded.
A number of parties have called on the Electoral Office to clarify for voters the two separate electoral processes taking place on Thursday. While the Westminster poll will be a "first past the post" election in which voters tick only their preferred candidate, the concurrent local government election will use proportional representation requiring voters to mark their candidates in order of preference.
The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, urged the Electoral Office to make "immediate changes" to the Westminster ballot paper, which did not contain clear instructions on how to vote. The Women's Coalition warned that confusion about the two ballot papers could lead to a record number of spoiled ballots.
Both Sinn Fein and the PUP welcomed a call from the NUS/USI union for students to use their votes to endorse parties committed to the abolition of tuition fees.
A poll in yesterday's Sunday Times found that 65 per cent of British voters wanted Britain to guarantee the North's position within the UK, while 24 per cent supported a withdrawal and 11 per cent had no opinion.