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1st LD: Northern Ireland announces snap election after government fails

Xinhua, January 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

A snap election for the devolved Northern Ireland parliament was called Monday night in the latest twist to a major rift between the two main parties, the Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

Power-sharing governance in the once troubled province of Britain collapsed after the assembly's deputy leader Martin McGuinness of the republican Sinn Fein party quit.

His resignation a week ago meant that the assembly leader Arlene Foster of the DUP automatically lost her job.

Hopes of a breakthrough to avoid an all-out election failed to materialize by a 5 p.m. deadline local time, plunging the region into a period of potential crisis.

The Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire, a member of the British government's cabinet, announced the election in Belfast.

The people of Northern Ireland will vote for the 108 assembly members on March 2.

Brokenshire said the assembly will be dissolved on Jan. 26 when temporary decision-making power will transfer to him as Northern Ireland Secretary.

He said the timing of the election process will not affect Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to trigger Britain's exit from the European Union. She plans to start the exit process by the end of March. Endit