Sinn Féin was the party with the most votes, with 29% of the vote, the DUP with 21.3% and the Alianza Party with 13.5%. Sinn Féin has won 27 seats and the DUP 25.
Euskaraz irakurri: Garaipen historikoa lortu du Sinn Feinek Ipar Irelandn, unionisten 100 urteko nagusitasunarekin amaituz
The Sinn Fein has officially become this Saturday the party with the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assemblywith 27, in a symbolic gesture for Irish nationalism that could place its leader, Michelle O’Neill, in front of Stormont. One hundred years after the partition of the island into two jurisdictionsthe impact that this change can have both in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland is significant, since Sinn Féin has almost in its hands the Belfast and Dublin governments.
The Republican party has received the most votes by far in these elections. Sinn Féin has obtained 29% of first-choice votes (1.1 points more than in the 2017 elections), the unionist party DUP has achieved 21.3% (6.7 points less than in 2017) and the Alliance Partyqualified as “neutral”, 13.5% (4.5 points more than in 2017).
Distributed among the 90 seats in the Assembly, Sinn Féin has obtained 27 representatives; the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) 25, the Alliance Party 17, the Unionist Party of the UUP 9; the Social Democratic Labor Party (SDLP), 8; and the independents, 4.
Participation has been 63.61%. Five years ago, it was 64.8%.
Is the unification of Ireland possible?
The leader of Sinn Féin in the north, Michelle O’Neill -daughter of a former member of the IRA- will present after these elections her candidacy for the post of Chief Executive Minister shared power with the unionists, a position never before held by a nationalist politician.
In the south, another woman, the president of Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald -which replaced the historic Gerry Adams-, led Sinn Féin to be the most voted party in the 2020 general elections in the Republic of Ireland. McDonald won 24.5% of the vote, ahead of the hegemonic Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, but she did not find support among the minority parties to become prime minister. Now, the results from the north give McDonald another push to try again in the next election.
In any case, although the unification of the island continues to be one of the aspirations of the formation, social issues such as health, education, housing or the economy in general are currently the pillars of Sinn Féin’s policy.
Unionist boycott
We will have to see what role the unionists play. Since the good friday dealboth sensitivities are required to handle shared governmentsbut after these results, the unionists threaten to boycott the formation of a power-sharing government if there is no progress on the post-Brexit status from Northern Ireland.
The DUP still defends leaving the EU, but wants changes in the controversial protocol designed by London and Brussels to review goods arriving from Great Britain, while preventing a hard border between the two Irelands, key to the peace process.
For its part, Michelle O’Neillif elected, has promised a inclusive leadershipwhich celebrates diversity, which guarantees rights and equality for those who have been excluded, discriminated against or ignored in the past”.
The president of Sinn Féin, Mary Lou McDonald, has called for the immediate restoration of an executive at Stormont after months of political wrangling. “I hope that Michelle O’Neill is nominated as Prime Minister, and I ask everyone to take a deep breath to realize the enormous responsibility that we all share.”
For her part, the leader of the Alliance Party, Naomi Long, has declared that without a government in Northern Ireland nothing can be achieved and has asked that his formation have a presence in a future executive. “I think given all the challenges we face, people are not going to forgive us if we waste this opportunity. We have to get into government,” he said.
Jeffrey Donaldson DUP leader has said that “the unionist vote remains strong and I am very pleased with how the DUP has fared in our constituencies” after which he has avoided any statement on the future of the Government. “We will cross all the bridges when we reach them.”
Source: Eitb
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