If you want accountability at Stormont, you need a strong opposition |
Accountability, the word at Stormont that seems so easy to say but so desperately hard to achieve.
This week, we had another round of calls for a minister to consider their position.
MLAs from opposing parties stood up to criticise, tempers flared in the chamber, and the end result? Nothing – and nothing will ever happen if we do not change our accountability mechanisms at Stormont.
The unhappy merry-go-round is the same thing we have been treated to time and time again.
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The reality is that unless a minister loses their party leader’s confidence, they are basically untouchable.
In a political culture already too skewed towards strong party discipline, our procedures make it harder, not easier, to hold our political representatives to account.
Whilst this mandate is a write-off in reforming accountability measures, the next one after May 2027 is still all to play for.
Like most changes in Northern Ireland, reform happens in stages rather than all at once, but in the next........