From Unity, 3 March 2007

Voters want peace and prosperity

The current election campaigns for the Assembly appear to be on a very low key. There are no bellicose rantings from the Paisleyites, and Sinn Féin’s policy on policing and law and order has weakened the DUP’s negative stance.
     However, Ian Paisley still has not stated he will go into government with Sinn Féin following the Assembly elections. But he hasn’t stated he will not.
     Despite denials from him and some of his leading cohorts that there are divisions in the DUP, from leadership to rank-and-file members, all indications are that there are fundamental disagreements on the way forward.
     Paisley now finds himself in a similar position to the former UUP leader David Trimble, which is to take on board the necessity of power-sharing and face down his backwoods hard-liners.
     All parties in this election during canvassing have found that the electorate in the main are not concentrating on the past but are looking forward to a peaceful and prosperous future. And so the issues which really concern them are their living conditions: wages, jobs, housing, transport, and—top of the list—the imposition of water charges by the Northern Ireland Office.
     There are no significant shouts of opposition to the North-South bodies. Instead there is a growing realisation across the board that the development of an all-Ireland economy is in the interests of working people, industry and commerce throughout this island.
     Many media sources are projecting a low turn-out, because of the record of the last Assembly and a cynicism about politics in general.
     However, every voter should use their vote on Wednesday 7 March and vote for candidates who want the Assembly to be up and running, with a power-sharing Executive in place.

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