Petition Of Concern Reforms Vital To Break Political Deadlock - Alliance

Reforming the Petition of Concern (PoC) mechanism is the key to unlocking devolved government at Stormont, according to the Alliance Party.

The cross-community veto was used in the Northern Ireland Assembly as a way of preventing discrimination, but became the subject of much criticism after it was repeatedly use to block decision-making before the institutions collapsed early in 2017.

Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw said the mechanism is important in protecting minority rights, but in practice was often used to block the delivery of parliament decisions and frustrate progress on decisive issues.

Indeed, it has been used on a range of matters, from same-sex marriage to welfare reform legislation, over 100 times between 2011 and 2016.

The PoC requires the signatures of 30 politicians. Once secured, an assembly vote can only pass if it is supported by a weighted majority, 60% of the MLA's voting, with 40% of those being designated as nationalist or unionist.

In practice, larger parties can block decisions based on the strength of their numbers alone.

Ms Bradshaw, who represents south Belfast, said: "Alliance put proposals on the table to reform the POC almost two years ago. It was designed to protect minorities. Instead, it has been used to frustrate progress, stop the Assembly from holding Ministers to account, and block the delivery of rights and equality. Reforming it is key to opening progression on a whole range of rights issues.

"It is crucial when the Assembly returns, the POC would be no longer used to do what it has before. Instead, any future POC would be strictly limited to matters involving changes to the Assembly or constitutional matters, specific issues around identity and culture, or issues relating to the past such as legacy, victims and paramilitarism.

"Reform of the POC is a necessary measure to make any future Assembly sustainable, as well as see our society achieve equality on a number of issues. We need to get it back to its original intent and away from what it has become, which is used and abused to protect parties' selfish interests."

Under Alliance's proposals, every POC would need to be signed and dated, excluding pre-signed forms, and clearly state why the mechanism needs to be used. Parties would also be required to satisfy a member of a legal panel on how it meets the criteria.



(JG/MH)