The Alliance Party today stepped aside in the battle to unseat anti-Belfst Agreement MP Robert McCartney.
In an 11th-hour move, Stephen Farry, who was standing for the party in North Down, said it was unilaterally pulling out of the race and urged supporters to back the Ulster Unionist candidate Lady Sylvia Hermon.
Insisting there had been no deal between his party and the Ulster Unionists, Mr Farry said it was withdrawing for the greater good of the Agreement.
He claimed: "Alliance is a fundamentally different party from the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP. We have a clear vision for a shared, non-sectarian Northern Ireland. We can't just go on managing our divisions, we must begin to overcome them. "However, in order to have the opportunity to put this vision into practice, the necessary framework - the Agreement - must first be secured.
"Therefore, I am today announcing that I will be standing aside in this constituency and that Alliance will not contest the seat in this Westminster election.
"I will be asking the 7,500 people who voted Alliance at the last general election and others to show their support for our agenda of sharing over separation by voting Alliance number one in the local government elections.
"In the Westminster election, I would ask people to use their vote for the strongest remaining pro-Agreement candidate, Lady Hermon. This is not about asking people to vote for Ulster Unionism but to support the Agreement."
Mr Farry said he had taken the decision with "great reluctance" but had the full backing of the Alliance leadership and the party's North Down Association.
The former North Down candidate also called on the nationalist SDLP to follow Alliance's lead by withdrawing its candidate, Marietta Farrell from the race.
Alliance leader Seán Neeson repeated the move was not part of any deal with the Ulster Unionists.
The East Antrim MLA said Alliance had stepped aside in several constituencies including UUP leader David Trimble's seat in Upper Bann and SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon's in Newry and Armagh because it wanted to maximise the number of pro-Agreement MPs.
He called for reciprocal moves from the UUP and SDLP in three constituencies - East Belfast, East Antrim and Lagan Valley - where he said his party was the "strongest pro-Agreement alternative".
"In East Belfast, in particular, there is a real opportunity for Alliance to unseat Peter Robinson - what a prize that would be. But the UUP candidate is a complete unknown. David Alderdice is the former Lord Mayor of Belfast," Mr Neeson argued. "The UUP are condemning the people of East Belfast to four more years of Peter Robinson. We've done our bit. Mr Trimble, Mr Hume, now it's over to you. We've jumped. You follow."
Mr Farry's withdrawal means there are still four pro-Agreement candidates in the race for North Down - Lady Hermon for the UUP, Marietta Farrell for the SDLP, Sinn Féin's Eamon McConvery and the Conservatives' Julian Robertson.
UK Unionist leader Robert McCartney, who has a clear run at the anti-Agreement vote, is defending a 1,449 majority over the Ulster Unionists.
However the withdrawal of Mr Farry and his endorsement of Lady Hermon will be a major boost for the UUP's campaign.
Alliance polled 7,554 votes in the 1997 election and 5,368 in the 1998 Assembly election. If either of those tallies were to transfer to the UUP, the party would have a clear lead in the constituency.
Mr Neeson told a Belfast press conference that having pulled out of North Down his party would not be making any more gestures to the Ulster Unionists.
He ruled out a deal involving removing his candidates from Strangford and South Antrim in return for the Ulster Unionist candidate withdrawing from East Belfast.
Mr Neeson said there was no guarantee that Alliance supporters would vote for David McNarry or David Burnside.
"We are now focusing on fighting the 10 seats that we have already nominated for. There is no chance of a deal," he added.
UK Unionist leader Robert McCartney claimed the Alliance Party had committed "electoral suicide" and consigned itself to a "very dismal future" by withdrawing from the battle for North Down.
He argued: "Alliance members in North Down will, I believe, be absolutely dismayed at this decision.
"The assumption that their votes are for sale or disposal at the behest of the Ulster Unionists will antagonise many of them who will either stay at home or vote for the SDLP.
"The suicide of Alliance, allegedly to support the Agreement, will fail if David Trimble honours his recent threat to resign if Sinn Fein/IRA do not start decommissioning by July. In a sea of political doubt, there is one certainty - the IRA will not be decommissioning."
Mr McCartney also claimed the Alliance Party's ideal of cross-community politics had also been destroyed by its decision which would force its supporters "back to their roots in Ulster Unionism and the SDLP".
PA