Republican News · Thursday 24 July 2003

DEMOCRACY DENIED

The arrest of leading unionist and former senior electoral official Alastair Patterson, in connection with serious offences within the Six-County Electoral Office, will further undermine nationalist confidence in unionism's commitment to democratic politics.

While many will be greatly concerned about this particular allegation, it forms part of a nexus of events that have exposed unionism's contempt for democratic politics in the recent months and weeks. Two unionists have been caught with their fingers in the till, but the extent of unionism's engagement in electoral fraud, and its contempt for the electoral system, runs much deeper.

For decades, unionists have tried to fix elections in the Six Counties to ensure that they always end up in power. Gerrymandering was their favoured strategy, and where that failed, intimidation usually worked. Even now, unionists are working to ensure that nationalists are under-represented in decision-making roles. As our front page this week conveys, even when nationalists are elected, it doesn't mean they will be allowed to successfully perform their duties. The bias that is operating in Lisburn Council is not confined to that particular institution.

Aside from the obvious question of political bias within the electoral system and the disadvantage that any proven fraud has caused to nationalists and republicans, many people are questioning the conduct of the investigation currently underway.

Patterson was released from questioning, on Monday night, on what were described by the PSNI as very serious matters. He then returned on Tuesday to continue with the process. This process of questioning is in sharp contrast to that employed as regards almost everybody else unfortunate enough to come under investigation by the PSNI. It is unheard of for a suspect - detained on serious matters - to be questioned, sent home to bed and asked to come back the next morning. Would this be the approach adopted by the PSNI to the detention of a nationalist or republican? The answer is obvious. Patterson's position as a senior unionist is delivering previously unheard of benefits for him in relation to this investigation: even when exposed, the system perpetuates its own supremacist disposition.

We have seen how anti-democratic the Ulster Unionist Party can be. It scuppered the May 29 elections, and is refusing to allow a date to be set for future elections. Now it has been proven that even when elections are allowed to go ahead, the UUP's minions will be waiting on the sidelines to make sure the votes that don't go their way, don't go anywhere.