Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“The DUP maintains voluntary coalition, not mandatory coalition, is its preference. On Saturday Robin Swann moved the UUP into repudiation of mandatory coalition. TUV has always occupied this ground.
“So, the question now is why is any Unionist negotiating to re-establish the very thing that they claim to reject and which has failed so lamentably? And that is a question directed at both the DUP and UUP, for both, to varying degrees, are involved in the present talks to patch up the very thing they claim not to want.
“If no unionist any longer believes in mandatory coalition, then, isn’t it time to make a unified stand in rejecting it, not trying to perpetuate it?
“Let actions now speak louder than mere warm words about voluntary coalition.
“No system can be imposed on unionists that we reject. So let’s get off our knees, making it plain to all that devolution is doable but only where an executive is formed on a voluntary basis – thus preserving the most basic of communal democratic rights, the right of the people to change their government.”