Northern Ireland's Assembly should be reduced from 108 to around 80 members by the next Stormont election, the Alliance Party claimed today.
The cross-community party, which has six Assembly members, called for a review of the number of government departments in Northern Ireland.
Alliance Party
It also advocated a move away from the forced coalition of the Democratic Unionists, Ulster Unionists, SDLP and Sinn Féin at Stormont in favour of a voluntary coalition involving some of the parties.
Alliance argued: "In almost every democracy, like-minded parties, or those at least prepared to co-operate together, form a voluntary coalition that has either simple or weighted majority support within the legislature, and operates on the basis of collective responsibility.
"Involuntary coalitions in which parties are allocated portfolios on the basis of their comparative strength in the Assembly, irrespective of their compatibility, simply do not work," it said.
The party, led by South Antrim Assembly member David Ford, set out 12 pledges, including the formation of a voluntary coalition, in its election manifesto.