The Progressive Unionist Party has said the UVF will not decommission at present because the political climate is too unstable and the threat of republican violence remains.
A PUP Assembly member, Mr Billy Hutchinson, said that while the paramilitary group agreed with decommissioning in principle, the time was not right.
He was speaking yesterday after a meeting with the chairman of the international decommissioning body, Gen John de Chastelain. Mr Hutchinson has agreed to be the link man between the body and the UVF.
He said it was up to the politicians to create the climate in which decommissioning could take place. The UVF recognised that "what we need to do is move to a society that is free from guns, but at the moment that is not possible".
Mr Hutchinson brought Gen de Chastelain the answers to nine questions put to the UVF to gauge its attitude to decommissioning. "Things are in place and all we have to do now is wait on the right political climate," he said.
"The difficulty is, will we ever get that political climate? That is up to the politicians who have been elected to Stormont." He said the entire responsibility for progress had wrongly been placed on a few political parties and the paramilitaries.
The mainstream politicians had to make progress before the March 10th deadline set for the devolution of powers to the Assembly passed.
"They must not let this thing go because this is the only opportunity to take all the weapons out of society and we will never get another opportunity," he said.
Mr Hutchinson hoped the deadline for decommissioning of April 2000 would be met. "I hope that by that date we will have moved to the political conditions that will have created a pluralist society and we will all be working in the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland." The UVF might decide to decommission first or wait for republicans.
An SDLP Assembly member, Mr Sean Farren, urged parties with paramilitary links to advance the peace process by sending a "clear signal" that they were working with the decommissioning body.
The Alliance leader, Mr Sean Neeson, called on all parties in the Assembly to recommit themselves to the Mitchell Principles of democracy and non-violence.
He said that while there was no precondition within the Belfast Agreement demanding decommissioning, loyalist and republican paramilitaries should make confidence-building gestures.
"I believe there is a strong moral argument for decommissioning to have started now," he said. "During the talks process, the Alliance Party argued strenuously for the implementation of the Mitchell Principles when they were clearly violated by some of the participants.
"However, the government - whether Tory or Labour - chose to turn a blind eye to these violations. In many ways this has encouraged the paramilitaries to indulge in the present catalogue of beatings and shootings."
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has accused the British Conservative Party of engaging in "a petty propaganda offensive aimed at scoring cheap political points".
Mr Gerry Adams criticised the Tory motion in the House of Commons demanding a halt to the early release of paramilitary prisoners. He said the Conservative Party was not interested in advancing the peace process and accused it of ignoring loyalist violence.
"Why did they not call for a debate in the British House of Commons about sectarian attacks on Catholics? Their silence about this murder campaign is deafening," he added.
Assembly members are still looking for someone to deputise for the Speaker, Lord Alderdice, during next Monday's motion of no confidence in him.
The DUP tabled the motion after alleging he had colluded with the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP in cutting short last week's debate.