UUP launch plan to 'clean up Stormont'
The Ulster Unionist Party have announced a five point plan to 'clean up Stormont.'
Party leader Mike Nesbitt outlined the details of the plan on Thursday morning.
Mr Nesbitt said the plan is aimed at restoring public confidence in the integrity of the Stormont institutions.
The UUP have described it as a 'watershed moment' for politics here and have called on voters to take the chance to end mandatory coalition.
"Ministers must be accountable," Mr Nesbitt said.
"There can be no more solo runs, incompetence or breaches of the Ministerial Code without consequence.
"Ministers alleged to have broken the Code must face investigation.
"We currently have the situation where an MLA can have their conduct investigated by the Assembly Commissioner for Standards, yet there is no such process for Ministers.
"It cannot continue to be the case that there is a greater level of accountability placed on MLAs, than on those being trusted with the public purse."
The party is also calling for the Speaker to face an election before being confirmed, rather than being installed by the two largest parties and for the Assembly's scrutiny committees to have a greater role in examining the actions of Ministers.
"We must put an end to the abuse of Petitions of Concern, which were designed specifically to protect minority interests, not political parties," said Mr Nesbitt.
"No one envisaged the situation where one party had sufficient MLAs to bring forward a PoC on their own.
"This has corrupted the intent of the PoC, allowing one party to hold a veto over the Assembly.
"The Petition of Concern was designed to be a valuable mechanism to protect minorities from harmful law changes. Instead we have seen it deployed to protect Nelson McCausland, Sammy Wilson and most recently the Speaker Robin Newton from criticism.
"We would propose a requirement that the signatories must come from more than one party, this maintains the original intent of the petition while limiting opportunities for misuse."
The final point callas for all party donations to be made public.