Is there anything left for the DUP to disagree on? - McFarland
Ulster Unionist Chief Negotiator Alan McFarland has said that the DUP’s are now so confused that they cannot agree on issues ranging from fundamental policy on devolution, down to the content of their Party contracts.
In a statement, the North Down assembly candidate said: “On Tuesday a DUP Spokesperson said that the £20,000 fine was “wild speculation and totally inaccurate”. The spokesman said the figure was “’paltry’ in comparison, and not five figures”.
“Yet in the Fermanagh Herald newspaper, a DUP candidate has said that: ‘In previous contracts, you could be fined but that there was no maximum monetary figure included. That has now changed. There is now a maximum fine amount included of £20,000.’
“So the truth is out. There is a fine, it is in five figures and that ‘wild speculation’ was totally accurate. And the subterfuge was incompetently done – a spokesperson denies what a candidate can freely confirm to the readership of Fermanagh.
“The electorate will look dimly on being misled. The DUP can’t agree on whether they want devolution, they can’t agree on when they might want devolution, and now they can’t agree on the content of contracts for their own representatives.
“From fundamental policy, to internal party documents, the DUP are divided and confused. Is there anything left for the DUP to disagree on?”
He added: “And according to reports, the standard DUP MLA’s contract was understood to include a line to the effect of: ‘I resign from the Northern Ireland Assembly with immediate effect…’.
“And according to the Fermanagh Herald that clause has been updated to say that the Party Leader as ‘your nominating officer can resign you from the Assembly’.
“So the representative doesn’t resign. The representative gets resigned. How democratic is that?”