The Northern Ireland Assembly is to be dissolved next January to prepare for a fresh Stormont election on March 7th, the British government revealed today.
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain's Bill implementing the St Andrews Agreement confirmed the Assembly would be dissolved on January 30th ahead of the full restoration of power sharing.
The Bill will enable a transitional Assembly to meet from November 24th.
It is not clear if the Democratic Unionist leader the Rev Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness would be sworn in as shadow first and deputy first ministers at next week's meeting of the Assembly.
The legislation held out the possibility that the DUP and Sinn Féin could declare Mr Paisley and Mr McGuinness as their preferred choices as first and deputy first ministers without actually having them nominated for serving in a shadow capacity.
Mr Hain tonight defended his decision to plan fresh Assembly elections for next March.
Following warnings from the SDLP that some parties could use an election to slow down political progress, Mr Hain insisted it made more sense to have a poll before a new executive was formed instead of a year afterwards.
Mr Hain he was confident Northern Ireland's politicians would achieve power sharing by the March 26th deadline in the legislation.
"There was a number of reasons why an election was the right choice," he said.
"Both of the big parties (the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein) were absolutely clear they wanted an election rather than a referendum on the St Andrews Agreement and we had to take account of that.
"The second reason was for me the strongest one. You need an election-free period of a number of years — in this case four — for the process of devolved government to bed down.
"If we had opted for a referendum to mandate the St Andrews Agreement, the new executive in March 26th of next year would have been facing an election in a year's time in May 2008.
But SDLP leader Mark Durkan warned today the Democratic Unionists could use a new Assembly election to slow down progress. "The SDLP is certainly ready for an election," the Foyle MP claimed.
"We are not saying 'do not have an election'. We are merely making the point that if the commitment to have the St Andrews Agreement mandated was all about sealing the deal, a referendum is the clearest and cleanest way of doing that. "In a referendum people could not come with their own interpretations of what a deal is about. They could in an election manifesto.
Today's Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Bill also detailed the wording of a ministerial code to be taken on the restoration of full devolution on March 26th.
Power-sharing ministers would have to affirm their support for a four-part pledge of office.
It would require them to agree to promote the interests of the entire community in Northern Ireland through the Assembly towards the goal of a shared future, participate fully in all the political institutions under the Belfast Agreement and to observe the joint nature of the offices of first minister and deputy first minister.
The pledge also demands active support for all criminal justice and policing institutions, including the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
The Transitional Assembly, which the legislation sets up, will hold its first meeting on Friday week and would sit until January 30th.
The 108 MLAs would continue to get paid after the dissolution of the Assembly, through an election until the first sitting of a new Assembly.
PA