Break the ``victory or defeat'' mentality
By Caítlin Doherty
One of the most important deadlines of the peace process has been
missed. However, what could be perceived as a `traditional' delay by
this stage of the ``pace process'' cannot be either misinterpreted, nor
underestimated. The failure of some elements of the Ulster Unionists,
actively backed by the British governor Majorie Mowlam and her
government to set up the Assembly Executive and therefor prevent the
transfer of powers from London to Belfast has sent shock-waves across
the island.
There are several reasons why missing the March 10th deadline has
caused much outrage. Since the last technical obstacles to the
establishment of Executive were lifted by the Assembly vote on
February 15th, there has not been an iota of progress. The vote paved
the way for both, the British government and the Ulster Unionists to
recognise Sinn Féin's mandate and implement the Agreement in full. It
was time to abide by the letter and the spirit of the Agreement and
implement it's provisions without creating preconditions such as
decommissioning.
However, the Ulster Unionists decided to pursue their politics of
obstructionism. Day after day, the British government turned down
calls to sign the legislation that would allow the parties to choose
their ministerial posts. By refusing to trigger the mechanism and set
up the Assembly Executive immediately after the February 15th vote,
the British government signalled it was clearly supporting the Ulster
Unionists and their veto. Worse, both the British establishment and
Unionists who describe themselves as ``pro-Agreement'' are playing by
the same rules as those who have pledged they would collapse the
Agreement.
In this context, March 10th was the test of good faith. The
nationalist community kept it's eyes focused. By letting the March
10th deadline slip by, the Ulster Unionists have proved their
incapacity to change and respect the principle of Sinn Féin's
democratic mandate. They have proved that it is their intention to
uphold the days of supremacy and continue to exert their veto. By
binding any progress to the sole issue of decommissioning, they are
proving that their politics are the same as the Old Stormont regime.
Majorie Mowlam, by trashing a dead-line set by her own government, is
helping negative unionism to reach it's goals of stalling and
renegotiating the Agreement.
More importantly, the setting of a new deadline for devolution is
seriously undermining the credibility of the entire peace process.
Does Majorie Mowlam seriously believe that nationalists can have
faith in so-called deadlines when they are constantly missed by those
who set them? If a lesson can be learnt from the last months of the
peace process, it is that deadlines are set to be missed. So far, not
one date of the peace calendar has been respected. Furthermore, by
pushing the target date for devolution to the week of March 29th,
Majorie Mowlam is bringing the process into the heart of the marching
season. In this regard, the consequences of the delay, described as
an additional ``breathing space'' may have been underestimated.
Concerns are also being expressed at the process by which an
inclusive, all-party democratic approach to implementing the
Agreement is turning into a ``win-loose'' situation once again. There
is already much talk about a so-called review of the Agreement. This
is totally unacceptable, as the Agreement is clear on all the issues
raised by the pan-unionist front.
It is alarming that, by solely focusing on the decommissioning issue,
the Unionists are attempting to corner and prevent Sinn Féin from
exercising it's democratic mandate. With the help of the British
government, negative elements of Unionism have transformed the
inclusive and constructive approach to the peace process into a
victory and defeat process.
By refusing to implement the Agreement, their efforts are focused on
breaking the IRA. By artificially bringing the issue of
decommissioning into the centre-stage, the pan-unionist front is
failing to stand by the commitments it made to a vast majority of the
people of the island during the referendum. The concerted efforts
have de facto proved that the Unionist movement is looking for a
military victory at a time where the democratic process has the
potential to bring long-lasting peace to the island.
The meeting between Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and
the Ulster Unionist Party's John Taylor and David Trimble may have
been constructive. However, it was more of a publicity stunt than a
constructive working session. The way in which the tete-à-tete was
orchestrated signalled that the Unionists are expecting the whole
Agreement to collapse and are already well into the public relations
face-saving battle.
It is clear that some elements of Unionism would like to see the IRA
back at war. It is this negative unionism that David Trimble has to
confront by showing positive leadership. Majorie Mowlam also has the
responsibility of blocking the Unionist politics of obstruction and
isolation to drive the peace process. She must ensure that the
Executive is formed and that politics take their course.
The onus is now on the Irish and British government to ensure that
the Agreement is implemented in full. The responsibility lies on
their shoulders to ensure that it is not renegotiated. There can be
no further delay's and the will of an over-whelming majority of the
people of the island has to be recognised as mapped out in the only
opinion poll that matters ........ the referendum.
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