The pro-Union vote must be maximised and divisions kept to
a minimum if Unionists are to have meaningful results from
the forthcoming General Election and the local government
poll in Northern Ireland next month.
Internal squabbling within the Ulster Unionist Party, largely
as a result of the political fall-out from the deeply flawed
Belfast Agreement, and separate unionist party rivalry, have
left the unionist flanks vulnerable in the face of a sustained
electoral challenge from the forces of pan-Irish nationalism
in the SDLP and Sinn Fein.
Many from the wider Unionist community, and particularly
within the Orange family, are deeply concerned that split
Unionist votes in a number of key constituencies could allow
either Sinn Fein or SDLP candidates to take Westminster seats
that are currently held by unionists.
The long-drawn-out and acrimonious debate over the merits
and demerits of the Belfast Agreement has sapped the morale
of many unionists and the deep divisions, so very apparent
in one constituency in reaching the doors of the court room,
have given added impetus to republicans and nationalists who
are enthused with the real prospect of making significant
electoral gains.
Loss of representation to republican and nationalist interests
will only happen if Unionist politicians continue to ignore
the warning signs and sleep-walk themselves and their parties
over the cliff to an electoral disaster.
Unionist candidates standing in opposition to one another
can be justified in constituencies where there is absolutely
no chance of the seat falling into the hands of republicans
or nationalists.
This is the case in North Antrim, East Antrim, South Antrim,
East Belfast, Stangford, North Down, Lagan Valley, East Londonderry
and Upper Bann, and in these constituencies Unionists will
have a clear choice to vote for those who have stood four-square
for the Union and have resisted the political advances of
pan-nationalism.
It is in the best interests of Unionism that in South Belfast
and West Tyrone the DUP is not fielding candidates in opposition
to the sitting MPs, the Rev. Martin Smyth and William Thompson,
and that in Mid-Ulster the Ulster Unionist Party has decided
against opposing the DUP for a seat currently held by Sinn
Fein's Martin McGuinness.
Fermanagh-South Tyrone and North Belfast are two constituencies
where political pragmatism of the delicate electoral balance
dictates that only a single Unionist candidate should run
and it is surely not beyond the remit of the two main Unionist
parties to work out an arrangement which ensures that these
seats remain Unionist.
In the SDLP-held constituencies of Newry-Armagh, South Down
and Foyle it would also be preferable for a single Unionist
candidate. Unionists have held Newry-Armagh and South Down
in the past and, in the right circumstances, they could do
it again.
West Belfast, where Unionists form only a tiny percentage
of the electorate, is a constituency well out of the reckoning
for the pro-Union lobby, but it should not prevent a Unionist
candidate testing the strength of support there.
In the final tally, the West Belfast Unionist vote will be
added to the pro-Union figures for comparison with those from
the republican-nationalist side and an analysis made on precisely
where the people of Northern Ireland stand in relation to
the continuance of their British citizenship. Which makes
it imperative that every Unionist vote must be made to count
in what could be a highly momentous General Election.
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