Republican News · Thursday 8 May 2003

Election postponement a violation of democratic principles

A group of prominent Irish-American activists, representing a range of organsations, has issued a statement describing the British government's decision to postpone elections into the indefinite future as "a reprehensible violation of democratic principles".

"Either there is democracy or there is not, and there can be no democracy without fair elections," they said. "Britain's participation in a war to bring democracy to Iraq while at the same time denying democracy in the north of Ireland is the height of hypocrisy.

"The people in the north of Ireland live, work and die there, not Tony Blair and his colleagues in the British Parliament.Ê They should be allowed to cast an honest vote without political manipulation.

"Yesterday, Senator Edward Kennedy expressed his concern that this postponement would seriously affect the peace process. He said, 'The unionists cannot forever have a veto on the peace process. The people of Northern Ireland deserve better.'

"When our organisations expressed similar concerns last year, we were given assurances from the Irish government and the US Administration that these elections would take place in May 2003.ÊDr Richard Haass [the US government's top official for the Irish peace process] pointed out in October 2002, soon after the suspension of the political institutions by the British, that to postpone an election is to change an election's result. He is absolutely right.

"We expect that the Irish and the American governments' responses to this undemocratic action will be severe and helpful in restoring political progress along democratic lines. The British government has unilaterally suspended the political institutions established by this Agreement four times since its signing. It has not implemented promises to demilitarising the Six Counties it still militarily occupies. It has not provided required basic human, judicial, economic and civil rights, nor established an effective, non-sectarian policing service.

"The GFAÊestablished a political process to replace decades of prejudice, repression, militarism and violence. These elections, already postponed twice, cannot be used by the British government or unionist politicians to silence the will of the people."

Those who signed the letter on behalf of the Unity in Action Committee included representatives of the Irish American Unity Conference, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish Northern Aid Committee, the Irish-American Labour Coalition, Americans for a New Irish Agenda, the Brehan Law Society, the Irish Parades Emergency Committee, and the Lawyers' Alliance for Justice in Ireland.