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Jeffrey Donaldson is set to announce a fresh bid to become the next leader of the DUP in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\nJeffrey Donaldson is set to announce a fresh bid to become the next leader of the DUP in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
The Lagan Valley MP is not expected to be opposed following a bruising party leadership contest last month.<\/p>\n
Nominations opened on Saturday and are to close at noon on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The next leader will be ratified by the DUP\u2019s central executive committee on Saturday.<\/p>\n
It comes following a turbulent two months for the DUP that saw former leader Arlene Foster resign after an internal heave against her and her successor Edwin Poots follow suit after he was also fatally weakened by a party revolt.<\/p>\n
His resignation on Thursday night came after just three weeks in the post.<\/p>\n
It was prompted by his decision to press ahead with reconstituting the Stormont Executive alongside Sinn F\u00e9in, despite a significant majority of his MPs and MLAs being vociferously opposed to the move.<\/p>\n
First Minister Paul Givan remains in post. It has been reported that he has been urged to resign when a new leader is in place.<\/p>\n
Once Mr Givan resigns, deputy First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill will also be removed from her post, triggering a seven-day period during which new office holders must be nominated or a fresh Assembly election will be called.<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in Finance Minister Conor Murphy said his party has no demands before renominating a deputy First Minister.<\/p>\n
There is speculation the DUP may demand action from the UK government over the Northern Ireland Protocol before nominating a new First Minister.<\/p>\n
Mr Murphy described the DUP as \u201cbeing at a crossroads\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have to decide whether they want to be in a working Executive with the rest of us on the basis that they agreed to as a party \u2013 they signed up to this \u2013 or they want to frustrate things and prevent things, and create a very difficult working arrangement and ultimately threaten the future of the institutions,\u201d he told BBC Radio Ulster.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot to be getting on with, we have a pandemic that is still active, we need to see that out, we have huge economic challenges ahead of us, we have public services that have been starved by years of austerity cuts and we have a responsibility on behalf of the whole of society to deliver on these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Murphy denied his party had made additional demands over Irish language legislation last week to nominate Ms O\u2019Neill as deputy First Minister.<\/p>\n
He said the party was \u201cstaying faithful\u201d to the New Decade New Approach deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have said we are not pushing for anything else, we want to just see the things that were agreed under NDNA implemented in the way they were agreed to,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Mr Donaldson narrowly lost to Mr Poots in the first leadership contest in the DUP\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
Chastened by that bruising campaign, the party hierarchy\u2019s preference is for an uncontested appointment this time round, though it remains to be seen whether Mr Donaldson will face any challengers.<\/p>\n
During the last campaign Mr Donaldson vowed to quit as an MP in Westminster to return to the Assembly and take up the role of First Minister.<\/p>\n
If that were to happen, it would mean a Westminster by-election in Lagan Valley, a seat held by Mr Donaldson since 1997.<\/p>\n
One possibility is that he could seek to replace Mrs Foster as the MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone when she steps down.<\/p>\n
However, with the DUP currently in such turmoil there are doubts whether the party would want to voluntarily trigger a by-election in Lagan Valley any time soon.<\/p>\n
Mr Donaldson\u2019s commanding 19,000-vote majority in Lagan Valley in the 2017 general election was trimmed to 6,000 votes at the 2019 poll following a surge in support for the Alliance Party.<\/p>\n
Another option could see Mr Donaldson wait until just before the next Assembly election, scheduled in May 2022, before he resigns his parliamentary seat.<\/p>\n
In that scenario he might appoint a temporary First Minister to fill the role in the interim.<\/p>\n