Appointment of Justice Minister

Ulster Unionist MLA Fred Cobain has clarified the position of the Ulster Unionist Party in relation to the appointment of a Justice Minister following criticism from the DUP about using the D'hont system.

Commenting on the position, the UUP Chief Whip said; "The UUP believe in the current method used to appoint Ministers within the Northern Ireland Executive - that is the D'Hondt method and that is the agreed system. When the Justice Minister is appointed we want to ensure that D'Hondt is completely re-run for all of the posts. We will not support the appointment of a puppet Minister, particularly one who is agnostic on the Union. Any attempt to insert an Alliance member into the Ministerial role would undermine the democratic process of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive. They have no right to that position. What is being proposed by DUP/SF is a mechanism for avoiding this system of D'Hondt and it means that in practice, the Minister will be determined by DUP/SF and not by the strength of a party in the Assembly. This makes the Minister effectively a hostage to those two parties as the Justice Minister would not be there as of right."

"For the DUP to claim that we would be in support of a nationalist Minister is preposterous - we will simply stand over the system that has already been agreed."