Published on: 28/10/2022 – 18:45 The British government will call early elections for Stormont, the Assembly of Northern Ireland, in order to get the British province out of the political deadlock. Since February, the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has withdrawn from the power-sharing government in protest against certain post-Brexit provisions, preventing the formation of an executive. Northern Irish people will have to vote for the second time this year: London said on Friday October 28 that it was “under a legal obligation” to call early elections for this British province in the midst of a political deadlock over post-Brexit trade provisions .After a last chance meeting of Northern Irish parliamentarians on Thursday, the deadline set by London passed without Unionists, who believe that Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom is under threat, not bend and do not agree to end their boycott of local institutions. >> Northern Ireland: victorious, the nationalists promise a “new era” “I have a legal obligation to call an election”, declared in Belfast the British Minister for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris, indicating that he would give more details “next week”, almost six months after the previous election. The political deadlock is due to the fact that the unioni party ste DUP, opposed to the post-Brexit provisions, refuses to participate in the local assembly, which prevents the formation of an executive. The latter must be shared with the Republicans of Sinn Fein, supporters of reunification with the Republic of Ireland and victorious in local elections in May, under the 1998 peace agreement which ended three decades of conflict. Intercommunity (killing 3,500 dead). Repeal of the agreement Even before the start of the meeting at the local assembly Thursday in Belfast, the leader of the unionist party DUP Jeffrey Donaldson had showered the already tiny hopes of a compromise, affirming without surprise that his party “would not participate in an executive until decisive action was taken on the protocol”. Unionists (especially Protestants) are calling for the repeal of this agreement negotiated between London and Brussels at the time of Brexit, which establishes a special customs status for the province to avoid the return of a physical border with the neighboring Republic of Ireland. According to them, the protocol creates a de facto customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the country, unacceptable damage to the integrity of the UK, and disrupting supplies to the province. Sinn Fein leader Michelle O’Neill has accused Unionists of ‘denying the results of the May election’ and to paralyze power in the midst of the cost of living crisis. “We respect the mandate that the other parties have received, (…) we are simply asking that our mandate be respected”, justified Jeffrey Donaldson on Friday on the BBC. “We cannot in good conscience appoint ministers to an executive who are being asked to impose a protocol that harms our economy and harms people.” but many files are frozen. London wants to renegotiate the protocol with Brussels, which only accepts minor adjustments. While the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stressed that he wants to find a “negotiated solution” on the issue, no concrete progress has been put on the table for the moment. “The last six months, we have had chaos in Westminster, we had three Prime Ministers (…) and during this time nothing has advanced to resolve the problem of protocol”, lamented Friday Jeffrey Donaldson. He affirmed earlier this week that he was “ready to embark on the electoral battle, less than six months after the last ballot. He even warned that the party’s electoral propaganda had already been approved. His party’s defeat in the last election reflects a deep-seated trend in the British province, originally created for Unionist Protestants: Catholics, who represent the of the Republican community, are now more numerous there, according to a recent census, which is likely to encourage supporters of reunification with the Republic of Ireland. With AFP and Reuters