Republican News · Thursday 14 March 2002

Electoral Commission discriminates against Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is accusing the British government's electoral commission of discrimination after it refused to fund the party.

The Commission, set up to look at funding for political parties, ruled that parties in the North with two or more MPs sitting in the British House of Commons would receive grants of more than £130,000.

However, as Sinn Féin refuses to sit in the British parliament, the party has been denied the development money.

Sinn Féin Assembly member for Newry and Armagh, Pat McNamee, attacked the Commission for granting the policy development grants worth £133,921, to the UUP, the DUP and the SDLP, which has one less Westminster MP than Sinn Féin.

"We will be challenging this decision and we are at present seeking a legal opinion," he said. "Sinn Féin has twice the required number of MPs and should be entitled to this money as of right. As we witnessed at the last election, the majority of nationalists in the North support the Sinn Féin position on abstentionism.

"Our legitimate abstentionist position is being used to deny Sinn Féin members and our electorate their full rights and entitlements."