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Editorials
Monday, February 14, 2000Ulster government’s
powers suspendedBRITAIN'S suspension of the powers of the Protestant-Catholic government of Northern Ireland is an attempt to prevent its total collapse over the outlawed Irish Republican Army's refusal to disarm. The prospect of the IRA's surrendering its weapons was an essential element in the 1998 peace settlement that spawned the new government of Ulster.The issue: Britain has suspended the powers of the Protestant-Catholic government of Northern Ireland because of the Irish Republican Army's refusal to surrender its weapons.
London hopes that by withdrawing powers now it will reduce the risk that the Ulster Unionists will resign their posts. Their resignation would force a new election that could give Protestant politicians opposed to compromise the ability to block formation of a new cabinet.
The question is whether the action will succeed in spurring the IRA to disarm and thereby rescue the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the IRA, issued a statement that the IRA had presented the British government with "a new and significant proposition to resolve the arms issue."
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson said the IRA has offered "the first sign" that it might finally be willing to disarm. But Mandelson -- who stripped powers from the Ulster administration and resumed direct control Friday -- said the outlawed group would have to make its position much clearer before the local cabinet could regain its authority.
The decision ended a 72-day experiment to share responsibilities among two British Protestant and two Irish Catholic parties, including Sinn Fein.
Last November a deal brokered by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell appeared to resolve the stalemate over IRA disarmament. The Ulster Unionists agreed to drop their demand for some disarmament in advance of the cabinet's formation.
Sinn Fein acknowledged for the first time that disarmament was "essential"; and the IRA opened talks with an independent disarmament commission established in 1997. However,the agreement collapsed last week after the commission told the British and Irish governments that the IRA had not made any firm disarmament commitments.
A previous power-sharing cabinet collapsed in 1974 under the combined weight of Protestant protests and IRA violence.
The suspension of powers means that all 12 cabinet ministers will have their salaries cut and will no longer hold weekly meetings and the province's 108-member legislature, from which the cabinet is drawn, will no longer meet for debates. Policy-coordinating committees linking the Belfast administration to the neighboring Irish Republic will also be stopped.
However, London could return power to the four-party coalition and probably would if the IRA stopped dodging the issue and committed itself to disarm. The IRA is 21/2 years into a cease-fire that enabled the Good Friday accord to be reached following 27 years of violence.
Although there is no indication that the IRA is planning to revert to its violent tactics, that is always a danger as long as it refuses to surrender its weapons. Having come so far toward a peaceful settlement, the Irish leaders must find a way to surmount this last hurdle.
Jesse bows out
THERE was always a question whether any organization could contain two people with such large egos as Ross Perot and Jesse Ventura. The answer, we now know, is no.
The Reform Party was founded by Perot as his vehicle in the 1996 presidential election campaign. The eccentric billionaire had made a major impact on the 1992 election, winning 19 percent of the vote as an independent calling for balanced budgets, a protectionist stance on trade and campaign reform. But he made a much less impressive showing in 1996, winning only 8 percent.
The party has been struggling ever since to settle on its leadership and to find a unifying set of principles. Perot seems to have lost interest in the organization, staying mostly in the background recently.
Ventura, the former professional wrestler who is a liberal on social issues, surged to the forefront of the Reform Party with his 1998 election as governor of Minnesota, becoming the party's highest ranking elected official. But he became disenchanted with the in-fighting between the national organization and state parties.
Now Ventura has announced he is leaving a "hopelessly dysfunctional" Reform Party, branding it "unworthy of my support and the support of the American people." He said he was disturbed by the prospect that conservative Pat Buchanan could become the party's presidential nominee.
In making his decision, he conferred with New York developer Donald Trump, another colorful character who had been considering a presidential run as a Reform or independent candidate but now says he won't run.
Ventura's departure could clear the way for Buchanan to become the party's nominee. Under the Reform banner, Buchanan could provide competition for Republicans George W. Bush or John McCain in vying for conservative votes.
However, there is no reason to believe that the Reform Party can be a major factor in the November election. Buchanan has run too often to arouse much interest and his message is too extreme to be successful.
Ventura was a fresh face in politics who surprised everyone with his 1998 victory, but he was a poor fit for Perot's party. Now that he's gone the Reform Party's collection of characters has shrunk and its prospects are bleak.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
