Speaking at the launch of the Erne West branch of the Fermanagh and South Tyrone Democratic Unionist Association in Florence Court this evening Jim Allister said, “The recent actions of the SDLP at Leeds Castle have confounded the expectations of many who had hoped for a mature and flexible approach from constitutional nationalism in the negotiations. Gone was the pragmatic and magnanimous language of old, only to be replaced with a not-an-inch rejectionist agenda. Perhaps because the agreement was their baby, they are reluctant to admit its faults, but they must acknowledge that the DUP has been given a mandate for change, and a mandate to reform the political institutions.
Bearing in mind the new political reality post-November 2003, it is extremely hard to understand why a party which commands less than one-fifth of the support of the electorate should be allowed to stymie political progress. The SDLP leadership has a duty to address satisfactorily the concerns and needs of the unionist community. It is not an unreasonable expectation that government ministers with executive powers should be accountable to the Northern Ireland Assembly. What have the SDLP got to fear from accountability? I have said many times before that we would rather have no devolution than bad devolution. That remains our position today. No sane person could defend a system which allows ministers to run their departments like independent fiefdoms and allows them to ride roughshod over the representatives of the people.
Two weeks ago, in this constituency I stated that the DUP, though desirous of devolution, were not wedded to devolution at any price, and the price of either Sinn Fein ministers in government, while their secret army remains active and armed, or devolution were ministers could defy the assembly and run their departments as fiefdoms was a form of devolution which we will not permit. This stance predicated our stand at Leeds Castle and continues to govern our approach. Decommissioning, though essential, in isolation is not enough. We will not be satisfied with the Belfast Agreement four years late on decommissioning, but otherwise unaltered.
The rejectionist SDLP, who try to deny the impact of two election results which make changes to the Belfast Agreement a prerequisite for devolution should recognise that they need devolution more than most. They should not squander the opportunity which presently exists.”
