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June 2016
Real Democracy?
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Despite the fact the ballot paper in East Belfast looked more like a supermarket receipt with eighteen candidates at the final count the result was pretty much predictable with 3 DUP, 2 Alliance and 1 Ulster Unionist.
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It took until the wee small hours of Saturday morning until all the votes had been counted, eliminated, transferred and the final declarations made. Whilst Joanne Bunting will be a newcomer to the benches at the Big House on the Hill, she is a seasoned politician having served on Castlereagh Council and has the advantage of having spent some time as a DUP staff member at Stormont. In actual fact Joanne topped the poll and will join the returning Sammy Douglas and Robin Newton. Again with some predictability the Alliance returned two MLA’s the sitting member Chris Lyttle along with the Leader in Waiting Naomi Long returning to the political bear pit, unfortunately for Alliance it was a bridge too far for the party to take a third seat. Completing the line-up for east Belfast is
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Afghanistan veteran Andy Allen who has now secured the seat in his own right. So now that the dust has settled and it is down to work for the MLAs the questions posed on the doorsteps about continuing job losses, making sure that we have schools fit for the purpose of educating our children and young people in the 21st century, the provision of new, affordable housing and a Health Service that does not routinely leave patients lying on trolleys in A&E have been temporarily set aside for a new question – Will we have ‘real’ democracy with the announcement of an official opposition to the Big Two of the DUP and Sinn Fein. With a deadline of Wednesday May 25th the Secretary of State has confirmed that Ministers have to be appointed or fresh elections will be called. The sticking point
is around the Justice Ministry with the DUP and Sinn Fein indicating neither would support a Justice Minister from their ranks and the Alliance ruling out their acceptance of the post following the refusal to support radical changes in relation to integrated education and petitions of concern, east Belfast MLA Naomi Long commented, ‘Our proposals would have radically changed Northern Ireland. Given the view of both the DUP and Sin Fein to the proposals we could not recommend an Alliance MLA to take the Justice Ministry role. There has been speculation that the independent MLA Claire Sugden has or will be approached about taking what effectively may be a poisoned chalice. It would appear that there is a determination to appoint Ministers and associated committee Chair and vice Chairpersons within the time limit set. Whilst all the political parties signed up to the concept of opposition, it remains to be seen if there is enough maturity to ensure that this new dispensation really works. The challenges for everyone at Stormont as they approach D Day is there a willingness to make this work and more importantly is there a desire to make it work?