Motion to support the cross-community vote for Justice Minister

This Assembly recognizes:

(1) The Executive has proposed to reform the Justice Minister position from a cross-community vote to becoming a D'Hondt allocation Ministry

(2) This policy was advanced and supported by key members of the Executive at time of formation, as well as the Justice Minister

(3) Due to changes in Executive leadership, two senior members of the Executive have publicly stated they no longer support the reforms alongside the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

(4) Changing the Justice Minister into a D'Hondt position undermines the principles of the Good Friday Agreement and threatens the nonsectarian nature of policing and sentencing in post-Troubles Northern Ireland

The Assembly therefore affirms:

(1) To preserve the status quo on the appointment and election of the Justice Minister

(2) States publicly a commitment to not pursue reform during the term

(3) Supports the Justice Ministry in their pursuits and endeavours in keeping Northern Ireland safe

This motion was authored by Baron Gregor Harkonnen of Holt, 1st Baron Holt, on behalf of the Ulster Borders Party

The Executive started this term with a commitment in their Programme for Government, which committed to the people of Ulster that this Executive would seek to reform the Justice Minister vote to being a D’Hondt allocated Executive position. This statement was opposed by the Opposition.

The Executive has however changed in this time, with two senior Executive members leaving and being replaced by new members. As well as this, a new Northern Ireland Secretary has taken to their role. The First Minister, deputy First Minister and the Northern Ireland Secretary have all stated that they no longer support this policy and have publicly stated their opposition to the policy. This is despite this policy being a headliner for the Executive, mentioned in their first page and was a real star reform in the Justice Ministry which they proposed. As a matter of fact, this was a deciding issue in the vote for the Justice Minister, /u/Model-Willem, who has stated that they do support the reforms and pledged support for it publicly.

This is all quite confusing now for the people of Ulster and the UBP has moved this motion to provide clarity to the people. The decision is ultimately simple. The Executive can stand on the side of good sense and decide to formally drop this flagship policy by supporting this motion or they can contradict themselves publicly and move forwards with a policy they truly do not support. I hope that this motion can serve as a catalyst to let the people of Ulster know the intentions of this Executive and I hope it can enjoy their support.

This division shall end on the 25th of April