ALLIANCE LEADER David Ford has promised his party's annual conference that it will be in power at Stormont - "when the conditions are right".
Addressing several hundred delegates, he said talk of the devolution of justice and policing powers - the issue that has mired the Executive since June - was "premature".
"Alliance always said that we needed to see a stable Executive working well for a period before justice could be devolved," he said.
"I remember suggesting that that time period could be expressed as 'two marching seasons'. Well two marching seasons have come and gone since the current Executive took power last year. We have seen a much more peaceful atmosphere on the streets but instability in the Executive . . . the people need to see stability in the Executive before there could be devolution of justice to deal with issues on the streets."
He pledged that Alliance "will be in power soon" but only on the right terms.
"They're not right at the moment," he added. "Fundamental changes need to be made across government. We are not interested in being thrown a few sweeties."
Despite the pressure from the Irish and British governments to "complete" devolution by taking on justice and policing powers, Mr Ford said there was little public hunger for the transfer of such powers.
"They don't regard the devolution of justice as the number one issue," he said.
"The few who mention it tend to suggest that they would trust Alliance to do the job fairly. That trust is something hard-earned and we are not going to throw it away." In a strongly-worded attack on the current four-party Executive, he branded ministers as failing, sectarian and sectional.
"We will not be used to apply a sticking plaster over a serious fault line within the Executive. There must be fundamental reforms. I care too deeply about the future of this society to prop up a failing sectarian and sectional executive."
Mr Ford continued: "I promise you that whatever decisions this party takes in the coming weeks and months will be based on making real difference, making fundamental change instead of the failures of the current directionless Executive. I am determined that we will provide the leadership that a growing proportion of the whole community demands."
Mr Ford accused the leading unionist and nationalist parties of practising separation and adding to political instability.
"The DUP and Sinn Féin deliver only the politics of confrontation," he said. "But Northern Ireland desperately needs stability. If the Executive does not meet in the coming days, Sinn Féin and the DUP will push Northern Ireland once again towards the abyss. It is time that Sinn Féin and the DUP stopped letting the people down."
He used his speech to single out for criticism Environment Minister Sammy Wilson, particularly over his claims concerning human responsibility over climate change.
"Sammy Wilson as the clown of DUP conferences and the Assembly back benches can be mildly amusing. Sammy Wilson as environment minister is an embarrassment to politics," he claimed.
His wide-ranging address urged the Executive to tackle division in society which, he claimed, was costing the North some £1 billion per year.