A chief negotiator of the settlement which ended apartheid in South Africa has concluded that the Belfast Agreement has failed.
He says the political parties should embark on a new phase in the peace process.
Mr Roelf Meyer, former government minister for the National Party, said a "fresh start" was necessary, beginning with suspension of the institutions to facilitate an end to the impasse over demilitarisation, decommissioning, policing and sanctions against Sinn Fein ministers.
Speaking in Belfast yesterday at the end of a visit to the North, he acknowledged that enormous progress had been made since the agreement, including the setting up of the Assembly, the Civic Forum and economic growth.
"But at the heart of it the political leaders are on different wavelengths, in different worlds, sometimes on different planets.
"Now with deep regret, and some trepidation, I must conclude that this phase of the process is over. The Good Friday arrangements have failed to meet their objectives and have failed to serve the people," Mr Meyer said.
He said he fully supported the peace process but a "paradigm shift" or "gearshift" was necessary for the parties so they could take ownership of the process, without intermediaries, and free themselves of old defensive postures.
"What is the common goal? What is the endgame to which you all wish to proceed? A new framework is required, a new approach to sharing this corner of this beautiful island," added Mr Meyer, who has suggested a 10point plan to achieve this.
He said the central problem of the Belfast Agreement was the fact that Senator George Mitchell and the two governments were central architects, with the parties emphasising their "own take" on the deal.
"Crisis followed crisis, last minute `fixes' were the order of the day, substituting for substantive negotiations over the issues crippling the process.
"In particular, the failure to find a way for some form of trade-off between decommissioning and police reform has paralysed progress on either matter. All of this is tragic," Mr Meyer said.
"The political leaders have allowed themselves to wallow in their squabbles and arcane differences. So my message is simple: start afresh. Do it now," he said.
The coming British general election and local election were not reasons to continue under the current arrangements. "Things should not be allowed to drag on just because of elections as that would just delay matters further," Mr Meyer said.
He accepted that part of his argument was in line with much of the criticism originating from anti-agreement camps.
"But a DUP member can't write a 10-point plan. I'm not saying scrap the agreement. I'm saying move on to the next step," he added.