UK to Delay Northern Ireland Vote, Hopes for EU Deal First
(Bloomberg) -- The UK will legislate to extend the deadline for holding an election in Northern Ireland, people familiar with the matter said, to allow time to strike a deal on the region’s Brexit status with the European Union.
The plan will be announced in Parliament on Wednesday, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The current expectation is that the vote will be held in late February, to try to ensure the Northern Ireland executive is up and running well before the April anniversary of the region’s 1998 peace deal.
The UK’s Northern Ireland office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Northern Ireland’s most recent political crisis was triggered in February, when the Democratic Unionist Party -- which then lost its long-held status as the biggest party in a May election -- refused to take party in a power-sharing government with nationalists Sinn Fein.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/uk-to-delay-northern-ireland-vote-hopes-for-eu-deal-first/ar-AA13PRyu
