Monday will be the first official opposition day of the new assembly term
DUP and Sinn Féin assembly members will be asked to apologise for the collapse of Stormont over the past 10 years and begin reforming the institutions.
They will be urged to support a call for all public sector pay negotiations to be resolved by the end of April.
The motions will be tabled by the SDLP on the first official opposition day of the new assembly term.
The opposition is allocated one day a month to set the agenda in the chamber.
The Stormont executive was suspended from February 2022 until February 2024
The SDLP has tabled three motions for Monday:
- To ask MLAs to express their shame at the suspension of devolution over the past 10 years and to accept responsibility for the “decline in public services” during that time.
- Members are asked to apologise to public sector workers who have “experienced pay injustice” and to end the power of one party being able to collapse the institutions.
- The first and deputy first ministers are urged to commit to reforming the institutions in the Programme for Government.
A further motion calls for the setting up a special committee to consider legislation to prevent the future collapse of Stormont by a single party with a report on the options to be compiled by September.
Image source, Liam McBurney/PA Media
The opposition leader said photo opportunities are good but real work is needed too
SDLP Stormont leader Matthew O’Toole said the motions are “part of the purpose of us (SDLP) being in opposition”.
“We need to have a system – a more normal government – we need to have institutions that can sustain themselves,” he said.
“Our motions are not just about looking back and finding blame but – the first step to recovery is admitting you have had a problem.”
He added that the current political climate is positive but real work needs to be done.
“If we simply drift along on the positivity and photo opportunities – they will wear off – we need our politics inoculated again.”
Expect lots of opposition today and much of it will be aimed at those on the opposition benches.
The SDLP motions will stoke and divide the executive parties.
Asking DUP and Sinn Féin MLAs to express shame at how their respective parties collapsed the institutions is a bold move.
It will be met by a predictable robust response.
But both Sinn Féin and the DUP will tread more carefully around reforming the institutions as it is not an avenue they can completely close off.
It is much easier ground for Alliance and the Ulster Unionists.
The SDLP will feel it has laid a political minefield but don’t expect too many casualties.
On public sector pay – the SDLP will ask MLAs to support a motion calling for all negotiations to be resolved by the end of the current financial year.
No amendments to the motions have been tabled and they will each go to a vote later today.
It is not clear if the other parties will support or oppose the motions.
Sinn Féin and the DUP failed to back a Westminster report last year calling for the Stormont institutions to be reformed.
However, Sinn Féin has said it is “open to conversations” about changes to the government structures.
Previous DUP manifestos have described “voluntary coalition as the best long term option”.
The Alliance Party has campaigned for years for Stormont reform as the party believes there is now a “groundswell of support” for change.
Call to end ‘ransom politics’
Naomi Long has been a long-time critic of Stormont boycotts
Alliance leader Naomi Long addressed the issue during her party’s annual conference at the weekend.
Ms Long pointed out that neither the first nor deputy first minister would give a firm commitment “that they would not use the power to collapse the executive again”.
“The only possible reason for those parties to argue that they should retain the power to collapse the institution is if they intend to either use that power or use the threat of using it to control the executive,” she said.
“Both are a form of ransom politics. Neither is democratic or acceptable.”
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie has previously called for a “factory reset” of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement institutions but said any changes must be put before the people.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
