[ALEGHER ALEGHER] Ulster: si riapre il fronte nord-irlandese.

[GioFX]

Da Il Nuovo:

Ulster, in testa gli unionisti estremisti

L'Irlanda del nord rischia l'ingovernabilità. In testa il Dup, contrario all'accordo di pace del '98 e a lavorare coi repubblicani. Ma proprio lo Sinn Fein, braccio politico dell'Ira è al secondo posto.

BELFAST – Il sorpasso sembra essersi realizzato. Gli unionisti del reverendo Ian Pasley sono in testa nelle elezioni che porteranno alla formazione di una nuova Assemblea in Irlanda del Nord, dopo la sospensione dell’ott. Il Democratic Unionist Party, che nel 1998 fu il principale oppositore dell’Accordo del Venerdì Santo, quando ancora lo scrutinio non si è chiuso, è in vantaggio rispetto agli unionisti più moderati dell’Ulster Unionist Party di David Trimble. Sono 68 su 108 i seggi già assegnati e sulla base di questi primi dati il Dup ha già ottenuto 25 parlamentari contro i 17 dell’Uup, due di più rispetto all’ultima votazione.

Ad affermarsi come secondo partito è lo Sinn Fein , considerato il braccio politico dell’Ira, l’organizzazione paramilitare repubblicana che si è sempre battuta contro il governo britannico e chiede autonomia da Londra e l’annessione alla Repubblica d’Irlanda. Al partito di Gerry Adams, al momento, vanno 16 seggi.

L’elezione avvenuta mercoledì scorso è cruciale per il rilancio del processo di pace in Ulster. Dopo la firma del Good Friday Agreement, la regione è ripiombata in un’impasse politica che rischia di compromettere il processo di pace. Ma sulla base dello spoglio parziale, che si concluderà nel tardo pomeriggio, il cammino potrebbe essere più difficile del previsto. Il revedendo Paisley e i seguaci del suo partito, il Dup, sono i più intransigenti fra gli unionisti protestanti. E da tempo si dicono contrari a qualsiasi trattativa con i repubblicani cattolici dello Sinn Fein, che si è ora attestato come secondo partito. L’affluenza alle urne è stata più bassa che nel 1998. Allora votò il 68,8% degli elettori, mercoledì ha votato il 63,84%.


Da nytimes.com:

Ballot Victory by Unionists Widens the Divide in Ulster

By BRIAN LAVERY

Published: November 29, 2003

BELFAST, Northern Ireland, Nov. 28 — The hard-line Protestant Democratic Unionist Party, led by the Rev. Ian Paisley, emerged Friday as the dominant political group in Northern Ireland after elections that deepened the province's sectarian divide and cast doubt over the future of its power-sharing government.

After two days of counting ballots in legislative elections, voters appeared to have strengthened parties at both ends of the political spectrum — Mr. Paisley's group and the republican Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army — upending a power balance between relatively moderate groups and threatening the 1998 Good Friday agreement, the cornerstone of peace in the province.

The agreement effectively ended a 30-year sectarian conflict that had claimed 3,000 lives in Northern Ireland. Mr. Paisley, 77, is now demanding that the pact be renegotiated.

He refuses to deal with Sinn Fein, and has promised to expel any party members who do, because of its links with the I.R.A., the province's largest paramilitary organization, which has yet to disarm in accordance with the peace deal.

"The I.R.A. and Sinn Fein are inextricably united," Mr. Paisley said in an interview at his party headquarters in East Belfast. "You have to destroy both in order to destroy either. I should not have to share my government with gunmen. As a principle, I don't work with murderers."

That could mean that Northern Ireland's divided political groups will be unable to restart state institutions that have been suspended since October 2002, when Britain reimposed direct rule in response to allegations of spying by the I.R.A.

In a joint statement, the British and Irish governments insisted that despite the election results, the 1998 agreement remained the only way toward peace in Northern Ireland.

"In our firm view, the Good Friday agreement remains the only viable political framework that is capable of securing the support of both communities in Northern Ireland," the statement said.

That framework was seriously challenged by the vote results. When counting finished Friday night, the Democratic Unionists led with 30 of the Assembly's 108 seats, followed by 27 for the moderate Ulster Unionists, led by David Trimble, which had previously been the biggest political bloc in Northern Ireland. Unionists are predominantly Protestant and want Northern Ireland to remain part of Great Britain.

Among the mostly Catholic parties, Sinn Fein won 24 seats, passing the 18 seats of the Social Democratic and Labor Party to become, for the first time, the largest nationalist group. Nationalists and republicans want Ulster to join the Irish Republic to the south.

Mr. Paisley, who was re-elected in his heartland of North Antrim along with his son, Ian Paisley Jr., wields his sharp tongue ruthlessly, proudly declaring that he has called Prime Minister Tony Blair a hypocrite and a liar to his face.

His particular brand of angry oratory has set the standard for extreme conservatism in Irish society since he founded his own sect, the Free Presbyterian Church, in 1951. The Democratic Unionist Party came 20 years later, as a reaction to the civil rights movement that sought equal status for Northern Ireland's Catholics.

Today, while it could hardly be said that he has mellowed, Mr. Paisley's broad shoulders lack the forceful bulk that they had when he roared out fiery sermons on the streets of Belfast, and he walks slowly and trembles slightly.

His age has prompted speculation about his status as party leader, and also about his ability to lead the party into the next period of political uncertainty in Northern Ireland.

His deputy, Peter Robinson, now handles much of the Democratic Unionists' operations, and uses language about Sinn Fein that is a slight degree more conciliatory.

But the party is united in its demand for a renegotiation of the 1998 peace accord to make it more accountable, effective and stable, Mr. Robinson said. The pact was intended to share power between Protestants and Catholics, and was approved by majorities of both communities in a referendum.

In addition to the Democratic Unionists, as many as 13 representatives in the Ulster Unionist party also now oppose the pact. That puts Mr. Trimble, formerly the head of the Assembly, in an awkward position, and makes it less likely that the power-sharing government will resume anytime soon.

The agreement is scheduled for an official review by the British and Irish governments next month, but Mr. Blair and the Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, insist it will not be renegotiated.

"I think the parties will understand that the Good Friday agreement is an international agreement in the terms of the Vienna Convention, so it can't just be set aside," Mr. Ahern said. "Those that believe that in some way yesterday the Good Friday agreement was torn up, set aside, forgotten about, have to understand that."

[FastFreddy]

E VAI!!! Dopo i terroristi islamici e i terroristi rossi, adesso possiamo gioire pure per il risveglio dei terroristi irlandesi!!!
















Che mondo di M.....!!!!

[GioFX]

e aggiungiamoci pure i terroristi neri, che da noi hanno fatto un bel pò di stragi, e quelli baschi...