MR JOHN Major and Mr Seamus Mallon clashed bitterly in the Commons yesterday, as the Prime Minister unveiled his proposals for elections leading to all party negotiations in the North.
Without suggesting that the SDLP might boycott the election, Mr Mallon denounced Mr Major's scheme as "a monster raving loony proposal" and "a sop to the unionist parties."
As expected, the elections are to take place on Thursday, May, 30th. The British government will, introduce enabling legislation immediately after the Easter recess. Government sources last night indicated the legislative Process would need to be completed by the end of April to meet the June 10th starting date for all party negotiations.
As reported in yesterday's Irish Times, Mr Major's chosen electoral system provide's for constituency based elections, using a party list system rather than individual candidates, with a supplementary Northern Ireland wide party vote, and a "topping up" element to try to ensure representation for smaller parties.
In essence:
. electors will cast one vote, for the party of their choice
. five seats in each of the 18 constituencies will be allocated to parties winning the requisite quota of votes;
. members of the forum will be drawn from pre published party lists of candidates;
. the votes in all constituencies will then be aggregated, and the 10 most successful parties will secure an additional two seats, again from pre published lists.
The parties will select equal sized negotiating teams from the 110 strong pool of elected representatives.
And Mr Major was emphatic that "the transition from the elections to the negotiations will be automatic and immediate".
The reinstatement of the IRA ceasefire is not a precondition for Sinn Fein's participation in the election. But the ceasefire, and a "total and absolute commitment" to the Mitchell Report's six principles of democracy and non violence, remain the price of entry to the negotiations.
Mr Major said the parties would also have to address, at the beginning of the negotiations, "Senator Mitchell's proposals on decommissioning."
And in subsequent answers to questions, Mr Major told Mr Robert McCartney MP this meant "there must be parallel decommissioning" during the negotiating process.
Equally, the Prime Minister said, "there must be confidence that, as the negotiations proceed, they will be comprehensive and address all legitimate issues."
Mr Major said the IRA had bused the lack of a fixed date for all party negotiations as an excuse to break their ceasefire. But, he continued, "now their excuses are running out".
And he said: "While we want to see all parties round the table, the process will go on with or without Sinn Fein. If they exclude themselves from taking part in democratic negotiations, they will not be able to exercise a veto against others doing so."
Pressed by the Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair, about the relationship between the negotiations and she elected forum, Mr Major said: "The negotiators in essence are masters of their own process."
The forum would sit in Belfast, he said and would be limited to 12 months, its life renewable for up to a maximum further 12 months.
While the case for a referendum on the principles of non violence had not been conclusively made, Mr Major said he had not ruled out the option.
Mr Major said the proposed "hybrid" electoral system represented the best compromise he could find between the conflicting preferences of the political parties. The Prime Minister told MPs: "I believe this is a fair and balanced system that will produce a representative outcome."
Urging the parties to carefully consider the proposal, Mr Major declared: "No party has got all it wanted. Equally, I see no issue of principle here which could reasonably cause any party to walk away, from the democratic process I have set out. I do not believe the people of Northern Ireland would understand if any party did."
But Mr Mallon, the SDLP deputy leader, said it was unfortunate that the prime minister had not addressed the issues of referendums, the transition steps between elections and negotiations, and the ground rules for those negotiations. And he taunted Mr Major: "Can I surmise that they are not to the liking of your friends in the Ulster Unionist Party and that they are being given more time to nibble away at those also?"
Mr Mallon said the electoral process and proposed forum had no support in the nationalist community: "It is seen as being unionist inspired and unionist dominated, that it is in effect a prototype of their preferred structure for Northern Ireland - given to them even before negotiations begin, and that done by sleight of hand which will pre empt those negotiations."
A visibly angry Mr Major told Mr Mallon he had done himself "no credit" by his remarks. Insisting he was prepared to compromise, he asked Mr Mallon to make the same commitment. And he told him one of the reasons why there had not been broad consensus on the electoral process was because the SDLP had blocked some of the proposals.
"You must take your share of responsibility for the fact that there was not one," Mr Major told Mr Mallon: "As an elected representative in Northern Ireland, that responsibility has to be taken seriously."