Not an inch of progress
By Caítlin Doherty
Nationalists are expressing growing concern as another week slips by
without a move towards any concrete progress and as the political
vacuum created by David Trimble grows.
In the light of Unionist blocking tactics and obstructionist
politics, there are increasing doubts about the peace process itself.
At this stage of the process, it is important not to underestimate
the potential consequences of further delay in the implementation of
the Agreement.
The vote on the final document on the Assembly Executive, the
All-Ireland bodies and the All-Ireland Ministerial council last week
was a milestone. Over two-thirds of the Assembly voted in favour of
the crucial document. The No-camp was clearly defeated. The vote
signalled the will of the vast majority of people to move the process
forward.
In the days after the vote, after having defeated the No-camp and the
potential internal rebels, the onus was on David Trimble to stand up
to his committments. The vote demonstrated that Trimble is not in a
weak position in terms of the unionist block. He is clearly now in a
commanding position and has the ability move the situation forward.
The major responsibility however is now on Mo Mowlam to trigger the
setting-up of the Executive and respect Sinn Féin's mandate.
But no move has yet been made. Not an inch of progress has been
reached. Instead, the Unionists, led by David Trimble, are only
digging themselves further into political stalemate. A week after the
last technical obstacle to the setting-up of the Executive was
lifted, the unionists continue their game of political obstruction
and delaying tactics.
By doing so, not only is David Trimble unveiling the true agenda of
his party but is also lending weight to the minority that is clearly
opposed to the Agreement and whose only intention is to hold-up its
implementation.
The clear failure of the unionist political leadership to stand by
their committments and show a willingness to embrace change is best
illustrated by the decommissioning issue. This question has been
cherry-picked out of the Agreement and is still brandished by the
Unionists as a precondition to the implementation of the Good Friday
document. It is not a precondition and never has been. This issue,
like all the others, has to be dealt with in the framework spelt out
in the Agreement.
David Trimble, in trying to rewrite the Agreement, is being given a
green light by the British government. So far, Mo Mowlam is only
helping David Trimble in his attempt to silence the voice of the
nationalist and republican community. It is not only 175, 000 Sinn
Féin votes that are being censured. It is also the one of the vast
majority of the people of the island who called for the Agreement
they backed to be fully and swiftly implemented.
At this stage of the process, good faith and commitment from all
those involved in the process is needed. No one can allow the Good
Friday Agreement to collapse. The deadline for the formation of the
shadow Executive has been missed due to Unionist stalling and
prevarication.
In this context, it is essential that the deadline of March 10th for
the devolution of powers from London to Belfast not be missed. The
unionist veto over the whole peace process must be broken.
That veto, as part of a strategy to deny the nationalist community
their voice, and re-negotiate the Agreement is far reaching. The
stalemate is clearly designed at containing the debate at a highly
political level and preventing the wider nationalist community from
intervening.
This situation must be challenged by every means. The strength of the
nationalist and republican movement is in it's base, at a community
and grass-roots level. The rally planned on Saturday is the occasion
to express anger at the Unionist veto, call for an immediate
implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and counter David Trimble
and the British government's attempts to exclude the wider community
from the dynamics and crucial decisions relating to the peace
process.
As the political vacuum deepens, the dividends of the current peace
for nationalists and republicans in the six Counties are hard to come
by. While the Patten commission continues to process information, the
RUC is pursuing it's charm offensive. As reports of RUC harassment
pile up, this Unionist paramilitary force continues to make bogus
statements to attempt to deny Sinn Féin its right to participate in
new political structures. In their pronouncements, the securocrats
clearly continue to pursue an overtly political and unionist agenda.
The RUC's latest public relations stunt takes the form of a
``performance'' survey, distributed to homes and businesses.
This publicity blitz occurs at a time when the Hamill family has to
cope with the grief of seeing the RUC members that assisted in
killing young Robert remain unchallenged. In terms of justice, the
Hamill family hold out little hope that the current prosecution will
bring them justice. An independent investigation should have been
launched months ago into the murder of the young man not only by
leading human rights organisations, but more so by the British
government.
The mainstream media continue to ignore the ongoing siege of the
nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road and the consequences this
traditional sectarian pattern of violence has on the Catholic youth
of the town and the wider nationalist community.
Further sectarian violence has also rocked Belfast where loyalists
have attempted to abduct nationalists. On Wednesday morning a
delivery driver stopped on the Ormeau Embankment was approached by an
armed and masked man. The RUC did not inform the media of the
incident and have subsequently denied that any serious incident
occurred.
The Red Hand Defenders have also admitted the bomb attack on a
nationalist resident living in the Greymount area. They also admitted
having to abandon an attempt to abduct a leading Republican on the
Whitewell Road. North Belfast Sinn Fein Councillor Danny Lavery was
on constituency business in the area at the time and it appears that
this planned abduction was directed at him.
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