Word: unionists
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...When the CPA was signed, few took seriously the possibility of southern separation. That was partly because the south's leader, John Garang, was a committed unionist. But six months after negotiating the deal, Garang died in a helicopter crash - and his vision for autonomy within Sudan died with him. With the West preoccupied with a high-volume campaign over Darfur, Khartoum was able to drag its feet on the implementation of a deal with the south that offered it only loss of territory and oil. That bad faith reinforced enthusiasm for separation in the south. "People felt they would...
...Service of Northern Ireland; party members now occupy seats on the watchdog body that oversees the force. In return for this support, republicans felt, there was an implied agreement that Northern Ireland's government would take control of policing and justice matters. After years of Protestant outcry, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) recently backed the move. Sinn Fein has agreed to support a new group overseeing contentious parades by the Protestant Orange Order. The accord has steadied the ship at Stormont, but the power-sharing government, particularly the beleaguered First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson, still faces serious challenges...
...most troublesome opposition for the DUP comes in the form of the anti-power-sharing Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV). The party has no seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly but has growing support among conservative, Evangelical Protestants, in part because a scandal involving Robinson's wife Iris (who obtained $80,000 from property developers to help her 19-year-old lover establish a café business) has rocked the bigger party's Evangelical base. Many expect the TUV to do well in the upcoming British general election. "The DUP is very worried," says Rick Wilford, a professor of politics...
...three-way split of the Protestant vote among the DUP, the TUV and the moderate Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) could throw power sharing into complete disarray and allow Sinn Fein to emerge as Northern Ireland's largest party. That would mean a Sinn Fein politician, most likely Martin McGuinness, would assume the role of First Minister. The prospect of serving as McGuinness's deputy would be anathema to most Protestant politicians, and the government could well fall apart. (See pictures of the British army leaving Northern Ireland...
...would help if the mainstream parties were working together more closely. During recent talks on policing, Protestant and Catholic parties stayed in separate rooms, with messengers shuttling between the rival camps. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams recently wrote on his blog that some unionist politicians refuse to share an elevator with him. As external pressures mount on the shaky consensus at Stormont, the parties' ability to work together across the sectarian divide will be tested to the full...