In the local elections in Northern Ireland, there are signs for the first time that a party that advocates unification with Ireland, a neighboring country, will win. After counting 311 of the 462 seats, the Catholic-Republican party Sinn Féin was clearly in the lead with 104 seats.
The strongest Protestant Unionist force, the DUP, had won 85 seats by Saturday morning, the Belfast Telegraph newspaper reported. Sinn Féin received the most votes for the first time in the regional parliamentary elections a year ago.
The newspaper commented that Thursday’s election “dramatically changed politics” in Northern Ireland. Support for supporters of union with Britain continued to crumble as Republicans increasingly rallied around Sinn Féin.
Because of the complicated electoral system, counting was still carried out at the weekend. It was unclear when a final result would be known. Around 1.3 million people in the smallest part of Britain were eligible to vote.
Northern Ireland is currently politically paralyzed. The DUP has been boycotting the mandatory unity government with Sinn Féin in the regional parliament for almost a year.
The reason is that the party rejects the Brexit rules for the province that Britain and the EU had agreed on. Unionists fear this will further cut off Northern Ireland from London. (dpa)
2023-05-20 12:41:42
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