Editorial DUP running on empty

This British general election will be an interesting one for many reasons. Not least among them is the fact that the Rev. Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party is mounting its most concerted campaign ever in a contest for Westminster, fielding (to date) 14 candidates. Its primary target is not its traditional enemies on the Nationalist side, but its fellow Unionists in the Ulster Unionist Party, which, Paisley is boasting, the DUP will replace as the voice of Unionism.

As usual with Paisley and his followers, their chief accusation against David Trimble and the UUP is one of "betrayal." Paisley has said his message to the Protestant people at this election is: "David Trimble has betrayed you."

There should be no surprise that the DUP leader is resorting to such a tactic. Every campaign Paisley has fought since 1969 has been fueled by that one word, "betrayed," or its synonyms. It is a measure of the political, intellectual and moral bankruptcy that he and his party represent that during over 30 years of activity their vision has been almost always expressed in negatives. This time, however, it seems at least some in the UUP are determined to point out DUP’s contradictions.

The Paisleyite manifesto accuses the UUP of, among other things, "delivering . . . terrorists in government" and of "destruction of the RUC," the North’s police force.

David McNarry, the UUP candidate for Strangford, who is running against Iris Robinson (the wife of the deputy leader of the DUP, Peter Robinson), has come out fighting. He is not afraid to call the Paisleyites on their contradictions — ones that stem from attacking a political settlement from which they are not ashamed to benefit.

Consider the charge that Trimble has brought "terrorists" — i.e. Sinn Fein ministers — into government. As McNarry reminds voters: "The truth of the matter is that the DUP are in government with Sinn Fein. They have sat down and worked with Sinn Fein on Assembly committees over 1,000 times."

Apparently, it is OK for the DUP to work with "terrorists" but not the UUP. This smacks of hypocrisy, hiding as it often does behind a veneer of self-righteous indignation.

As for their accusation that the UUP allowed the RUC to be destroyed, McNarry pointed out that the UUP offered 200 amendments to the Patten Report on the police. "The DUP tabled none," he said. As usual, Paisley’s party was happy to carp from the sidelines.

Paisley’s also accuses Trimble of failing to bring about IRA arms decommissioning. "How," McNarry asks, "do they plan to achieve decommissioning alone if they say they will not negotiate with Sinn Fein?"

A good question, the kind that must be asked during this campaign. It will help to expose the vacuity of the DUP’s manifesto, especially its promise that it will "renegotiate" the agreement, restoring the RUC and getting rid of cross-border bodies (except those convened on a voluntary basis). With whom do they propose to renegotiate? One cannot imagine any of the parties to the agreement entering in to such negotiations.

The DUP manifesto promises leadership. But it is the kind that only those who want to march into a dead end should follow.