A good example of the petition of concern being used is in the rejection of a Sinn Fein motion calling for same sex marriage. A DUP backed petition of concern was used to reject the motion. The DUP is the only party with enough votes to reject a proposal outright as it has over 30 Assembly seat (38 MLAs). However, it is not just the DUP that use Petition of Concern. The Northern Ireland Welfare Reform Act 2015 introduces a range of changes to the benefits system. It was initially introduced in 2012 and took years of debate, including Sinn Fein attempting to use a Petition of Concern. Eventually the bill had to be forced through by Westminster – a failure for the Assembly. This proves that Sinn Fein and the DUP are able to undemocratically dominate the assembly and executive, because the smaller parties are unable to use petition of concerns. For example, the UUP were against the devolution of Policing and Justice because they believed that the assembly wasn’t ready. However, they didn’t have the numbers for a veto.
The use of the D’hondt system to select ministers is another way in which the DUP and Sinn Fein dominate. The system was devised by a Belgian lawyer in the 19th century, and ministerial seats are allocated based on highest averages. It was devised for countries which have an executive consisting of many parties with different ideas. In the previous assembly the DUP had 5 ministers and Sinn Fein had four, compared to Alliance who got two and the SDLP and UUP who got one each (Environment and Regional Development, respectively). It used to be that under the Good Friday Agreement the minister had the final say on issues relating to his department, meaning that the other parties still had considerable power over their departments, but St Andrew’s changed this and it means that Sinn Fein and the DUP can still dominate because they will have the majority of members in the statutory committees.
On the other hand, the alternative view is that a plurality of parties will continue to operate in Northern Ireland as the growth in support for the DUP and Sinn Fein will peak and perhaps even decline. The 2016 elections saw a rise in the amount of MLAs that did not designate themselves as Unionist or Nationalist, including 8 Alliance, 2 Green and 2 People Before Profit. This demonstrates that there has been an increase in the tendency of voters to vote outside the unionist and nationalist blocs. After all, this was the first election where the ‘Good Friday generation’ were able to vote, which suggests that younger voters are less likely to vote for the DUP and Sinn Fein.
The recent announcement that the UUP and SDLP will go into opposition could mean that the DUP and Sinn Fein’s days of domination are coming to an end. It remains to be seen how effective this opposition will be, but in theory it could lead to better politics and policy being more aggressively tested. There will now be parties openly heckling and challenging decisions from the outside. First Minister Arlene Foster simply said that the parties were, “searching for relevance,” after their poor election results.
Smaller parties will continue to play a significant political role, such as Alliance. The electoral success of the Alliance party, led by David Ford, is further evidence that Sinn Fein and the DUP do not totally dominate. Over the years Alliance has participated in talks with other parties and sought accommodation between the two communities. Significantly, the party has rejected the 'two communities' model of society in Northern Ireland, preferring a 'one community' approach where everyone in Northern Ireland would share a common allegiance. Growth has been particularly noticeable since 2006 and the new Assembly after St Andrews. It also coincides with the party getting positions such as Justice Minister - perhaps this new credibility is transforming into votes. The party fared well at the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election winning seven seats, including a seat won by Anna Lo, the first Chinese person to be elected to a European legislature. The slight increase in their vote between then and now proves that their non-divisive approach is becoming more popular. It remains to be seen whether it can break through the important 10% barrier and truly challenge the DUP and Sinn Fein.
Furthermore, the passing of cross-community legislation is proof that the DUP and Sinn Fein don’t totally dominate. All legislation is passed under a cross-community basis, this ensures that all legislation has the majority of each community voting for it and it ensures the legitimacy of legislation in our divided society. There have been good examples of where legislation has the support of both communities in Northern Ireland. For example, the Taxi Bill that was introduced in 2007/08 by Arlene Foster DUP, who was the Minister for Environment, was supported by MLAs from all sides. It regulated the taxi industry; taxis for example must be registered and licensed. This proves that the DUP and Sinn don’t totally dominate legislation, at least on non-contentious issues.
Finally, it could be argued that politics in Northern Ireland is not entirely dominated by two parties because the secretary of state, currently Theresa Villiers, has overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office, advances UK government interests in Northern Ireland and represents Northern Ireland interests in the Cabinet. This proves that the DUP and Sinn Fein aren’t totally dominant because there are still issues over which the executive has no control such as financial markets and national minimal wage.
To conclude, the arguments presented above show that the two largest powers have the most power in the executive and this means they can dominate what legislation actually makes it through to the assembly. As long as the DUP and Sinn Fein can remain the leading parties in their respective communities, their domination could continue for a generation. The proposed reduction in Westminster constituencies which is due to take place by the 2020 general election would also strengthen the DUP and Sinn Fein at the expense of the smaller parties. The true effects of this are yet to be seen.
by
erinruth99gmailcom (student)
