David Ford stated: “The SDLP position amounts to the idea that they should be allowed into government alongside parties they claim to have no faith in.
“How can you have effective joined-up government if there are parties which openly have no faith in each other supposedly sharing power?
“Why on earth would anyone want to join a government if they didn’t have any faith in it?
“If parties have no faith in the largest parties, they should go into opposition and we should develop a proper democracy.
“The truth is the SDLP is contradicting itself in its support for Stormont’s built-in sectarian divide. It is time we ended sectarian designations and mandatory coalitions, and instead developed a proper democracy which operates for society as a whole.”
ENDS