The British government will not allow new elections to be held in Northern Ireland this year. There, dissatisfaction with the Brexit deal has hindered the formation of a new local government for months. The UK minister in charge Chris Heaton-Harris said he would explain to parliament next week what he would do about the political stalemate.

Political turmoil has been running rampant in British Northern Ireland since February. It has to do with Brexit, Britain’s departure from the European Union. The DUP political party refuses to continue to be part of Northern Ireland’s government out of anger over a trade agreement the UK government made with the EU in London. This has resulted in Northern Ireland having a separate status within the United Kingdom.

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Want a referendum

Elections are held in Northern Ireland in May. Then Sinn Féin got the most seats for the first time. The party wants a referendum on merging Northern Ireland and neighboring EU member Ireland and is a bitter rival of the DUP, which wants to remain part of the United Kingdom. Opinion polls suggest that little will change in the balance of power in new elections.

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The deadline to form Northern Ireland’s new government passed last week. Northern Ireland’s minister Heaton-Harris initially said he was required by law to call new elections within twelve weeks. Northern Ireland’s main party doesn’t think this makes sense. They do not expect new elections to end the current deadlock.

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Boycott

The union’s DUP will not rejoin the government until trade regulations relating to Northern Ireland are changed. Such a boycott has dire consequences. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement stipulated that pro-British unions and the Irish nationalist bloc should share power in Northern Ireland.

Minister Heaton-Harris said in a statement he had listened carefully to the concerns of the parties involved. He said there would be no elections before the holidays. “It is my job to ensure that the right conditions are in place to allow political parties in Northern Ireland to work together to restore regional institutions.”