Recommendation 16

The change in nomination procedure for the offices of First and Deputy First Ministers resulting from the St Andrews Agreement in 2006 undermined the core principles of the Agreement. The offices are held jointly and their powers are equal. The nomination procedure instituted in 1998 was designed to reflect this and the Assembly’s position as the prime source of authority in Northern Ireland. It is also clear that the present system of nomination enables either of the two largest Assembly parties to prevent the formation of an Executive by refusing to nominate for the position to which they are entitled, with no means of overcoming the instability this creates. We also recognise that to revert to the pre-2007 arrangement of a cross-community vote to elect the First and Deputy First Ministers would also likely result in an effective veto for either of the two largest parties. However, there is precedent within the Agreement for key votes in the Assembly to be taken on a supermajority basis, rather than through either parallel consent or weighted majority, to demonstrate a form of cross-community support for nominees.