DUP MP Carla Lockhart has defended her decision to resign as a party officer amid a deepening row with the leadership over the future of Stormont.
Ms Lockhart's move comes amid a difference of opinion between her and DUP leader Gavin Robinson on whether the party should withdraw deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly from the powersharing executive.
Upper Bann MP Ms Lockhart has argued that the party should pull Ms Little-Pengelly from her post as it would automatically remove Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O'Neill from her position in the joint office they lead together.
Principle Over Tokenism
In a social media post on Saturday, Ms Lockhart said her decision was not made for the purposes of "satisfying hardliners".
"The stand I have taken is about principle," she said. "My only ambition is to continue serving the people of Upper Bann. It is not about personal differences with party colleagues."
"I feel strongly that an issue this serious cannot be resolved through symbolic or token gestures. Nor am I interested in myself making any such gestures. Any belief the steps I have taken are for that purpose is deeply misguided and completely misreads both my strength of feeling, and that of those I represent."
Ms Lockhart posted the statement after DUP MP Sammy Wilson suggested her move was a tokenistic attempt to please Unionist hardliners.
"Obviously Carla feels a lot of the Drumcree pressure and more than most probably because it's their own constituency," Mr Wilson told the News Letter. "Probably there were people lashing out and demanding that the DUP brings Stormont down – but how that helps the Drumcree cause, of the country, I don't know. It's a way of making a token gesture as to her dissatisfaction that we weren't prepared to bring the assembly down."
Call for O'Neill's Removal
Ms Lockhart said she wants to be clear about what she is calling for. She called for Michelle O'Neill to be removed from office, adding that deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly's resignation would also bring that about.
"I wish we could, but we cannot simply remove every Sinn Féin Minister who is under investigation for law breaking on the Garvaghy Road, and I want to be honest about the limits of what we can achieve," she said. "I have never seen unionism so united or felt such anger across our community. That unity should give us encouragement and courage. These concerns are not confined to so-called 'hardliners'. They are shared across all shades of unionism by people who want fairness, respect for the rule of law and meaningful accountability. Unionists who want flagrant law-breaking dealt with but want the institutions to continue."
Ms O'Neill attended a police station in Belfast on Wednesday for an arranged interview with officers investigating an unnotified protest, which was staged as part of efforts to stop an Orange Order parade proceeding down the predominantly nationalist Garvaghy Road from nearby Drumcree Church.
Robinson Response
Mr Robinson was asked about Ms Lockhart's resignation as a party officer as he appeared on BBC NI's The View programme on Thursday evening.
"I'm sorry to see that it's occurred," the party leader replied. "I appointed Carla to the party officers. She remains a key part of our team."
Mr Robinson said his party was democratic and it had come to an "agreed position" not to pull Ms Little-Pengelly out of the Executive. Asked if he thought Ms Lockhart may ultimately quit the party entirely, Mr Robinson said: "I hope that's not the case." He said he was not going to criticise Ms Lockhart, insisting she still had a "valuable contribution" to make to the DUP.
Earlier on Thursday, Ms Lockhart was asked whether she had confidence in Mr Robinson's leadership. She declined to directly endorse him, instead replying to BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show: "I have confidence that the Unionist people want action."
Sinn Féin leaders Mary Lou McDonald and Ms O'Neill were both interviewed at Musgrave PSNI station on Wednesday over their participation in the Portadown protest. The senior republicans were among several Sinn Féin politicians to receive letters from the PSNI asking them to attend for interview. Politicians from other parties also received letters.
Under parading laws in Northern Ireland, protests must be notified to, and approved by, the Parades Commission adjudication body. Police are carrying out an investigation into the unnotified protest on the Garvaghy Road on the day the Drumcree parade was meant to proceed and said invitations to attend interviews had been sent to individuals "reasonably suspected of committing offences".
