Status: 15.05.2021 1:47 a.m.
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With Edwin Poots, the Northern Irish DUP has made a hardliner its new chairman. Among other things, he wants to campaign for the abolition of the Northern Ireland Protocol – despite all warnings of new violence.
From Christoph Prössl,
ARD-Studio London
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Edwin Poots is considered a hardliner – in several ways. The 55-year-old is a Presbyterian. He belongs to the Reformed Church with Scottish roots. Poots is considered a creationist, which means he assumes that the world is only 6,000 years old. The politician was noticed in 2011. At the time, he was the Minister of Health in Northern Ireland and wanted to uphold the ban on homosexual men from donating blood – even though England, Scotland and Wales had removed this regulation at the time.
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Christoph Prössl
ARD-Studio London
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Poots is hardliner in other ways too. He wants to repeal the Northern Ireland Protocol. This agreement between London and Brussels is a massive challenge for the people of Northern Ireland, said Poots after his election. The agreement states that there is no border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. However, goods from England are checked when they are imported into Northern Ireland.
Unionists like the supporters of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) see this as a danger to Northern Ireland. They fear that the Northern Ireland Protocol with the goods border in the Irish Sea will support those who are in favor of the reunification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.
DUP cannot override Northern Ireland Protocol
Sir Jeffry Donaldson, a moderate politician of the DUP, was also up for election as party chairman. He had announced changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol, but not widespread opposition to the agreement.
The problem is that the DUP party, which is part of the government in Northern Ireland, cannot terminate the Northern Ireland Protocol, says Jonathan Tonge, politics professor at Liverpool University.
The DUP can only increase the pressure on the UK government. To – for example – reduce the number of goods checks. Otherwise there would be more violence in Northern Ireland again.
That increases the pressure on the new chairman enormously. Poots has left open whether he will also take on the post of new first minister, which his predecessor at the top of the party, Arlene Foster, is also vacating.
DUP is faced with numerous dilemmas
There are numerous dilemmas in which the DUP is, says Jonathan Tonge.
The DUP is dragging the problem of the Northern Ireland Protocol around with it, the leadership is divided over whether to swing any further to the right. They are unsure whether they are more of a religious party or a political one. All of this cannot be clarified by a party leader.
Especially since the result for his choice was very close. A party committee voted on the leadership. Poots received 19 votes out of 36. Professor Jonathan Tonge believes that few Northern Irish support the strict religious stance of Poots – although this tendency is strong in the party.
Tonge also sees a threat to peace in the region. To increase the pressure, the DUP could withdraw its support for the Good Friday Agreement. This agreement has regulated the peaceful coexistence of Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland since 1998. The regional government in which the DUP is involved could, for example, boycott cultural projects for Catholics or joint regional political assemblies. Such steps would jeopardize peace in Northern Ireland.
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