The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, said yesterday that all the political parties in Northern Ireland had to accept that difficult decisions had to be made and implemented if the peace process was to be saved.
Speaking to reporters in Derry following the publication of the governments' proposals, Mr Hume said the onus was on the paramilitaries to co-operate fully with the International Commission on Decommissioning.
"If they do that, and I can see no reason why they should not do that, that would be a major positive step towards stabilising our situation and to saving our people from going back into our awful past," he said.
"Given my experience and involvement of the last 30 years, I am very strong in my belief that it is our absolute duty to leave our terrible past behind us and build our new future together in peace and stability.
"That requires, from all parties, difficult decisions from time to time, but it is our duty to take those decisions and to act responsibly," he continued. "Not to take them, to allow a collapse of the current situation, is to go back to our awful past and that is the worst possible thing we could do. Let us do our duty, let us take the necessary courageous decisions.
"We all have a duty to implement all aspects of the Good Friday agreement. It is our democratic duty to do that because it is the clear will of the people, and as people can see from the terrible events on our streets recently, it is certainly essential that we leave that sort of past behind us."
He said he was not getting into speculation about the attitudes and reactions of other parties, "but I naturally hope that what will emerge from this document will be an agreed approach by both governments and by all parties as to how we implement the agreement in its entirety".
He said: "I would like to put the joint objective of the two governments' paper to Jeffrey Donaldson and to the DUP. The objective is to achieve lasting peace and stability on our streets and to respect cultural diversity without victory for either side. How can anybody be against that? The choice is either to go in that direction or go back into our terrible past," said Mr Hume.
In a statement yesterday, the SDLP chairman, Mr Alex Atwood, acknowledged the work done by the two governments in drawing up the package. "The SDLP will now consider the governments' proposals and look forward to the publication of the revised implementation plan," he said.
"These are substantial pieces of work and this demands substantial consideration by all political parties. There must be no rush to judgment and mature and thoughtful consideration must be given."