Northern Ireland: seven days to form a government
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin accompanies Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Edwin Poots and MP Paul Givan after a meeting in Dublin, Ireland on June 3, 2021. REUTERS - CLODAGH KILCOYNE
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2 min
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland officially resigned on Monday, June 14.
It is not a surprise ;
Arlene Foster was pushed out by her party, the DUP, six weeks ago.
The Northern Irish parties must now agree on the successor of Arlene Foster.
They have seven days to avoid the political crisis.
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With our correspondent in Dublin,
Émeline Vin
The DUP has already proposed its candidate: Paul Givan, ultra-conservative, creationist and very right-wing.
But he must be supported by the Sinn Féin Republican Party, which holds the post of Deputy Prime Minister.
These are the rules of Northern Irish politics.
However, Sinn Féin asks for guarantees, in this case the assurance that the future executive will legislate in the coming weeks on the status of Gaelic and release funds to develop education and protect the language.
For now, the party does not believe in the good faith of the DUP.
One of the Republican spokespersons this weekend accused the Unionists of misleading statements and of having no intention of keeping promises.
However, if in a week, the two partners still do not trust each other, voters will head for early elections, a year before the end of the current legislature.
The last time the province went without a government for three years.
A situation already complicated at the time, between 2017 and 2020, and that the Northern Irish would consider unacceptable in the wake of the pandemic and Brexit.
► See also:
Northern Ireland discreetly celebrates its centenary against a backdrop of post-Brexit tensions
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