The Northern Assembly failed to elect a chairman and was postponed “until a future date”.
This means that the Assembly is unable to function, a week after 90 newly elected MPPs were returned and Sinn Fein emerges as the largest party for the first time.
The DUP announced before the session that it would not support the nomination of a speaker until the United Kingdom government took “decisive action” on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will visit the North on Monday after the power-sharing crisis over the Brexit trade deal.
The DUP was condemned in the assembly hall by other major parties, with Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill accusing them of “punishing society” and “holding society for ransom”.
“Every party in this room told the electorate that they would appear on the first day. Well, the DUP failed on the first day, “she said.
Two candidates – Mike Nesbitt of the UUP and Patsy McGloon of the SDLP – were nominated, but the lack of agreement between the communities meant they were not selected.
Outgoing spokesman Alex Muskie said the failure to appoint a successor meant the meeting could not “go on any longer”.
He confirmed that he would commit to parties and postponed the meeting “until a future date”.
“Deep disappointment”
Mr Maski said he was aware of the “deep disappointment”, but that the Assembly was now “very limited in what it could do”.
Stormont has been suspended five times since its inception in 1998. A bill passed by the Westminster Parliament in February this year allowed the Assembly to remain without executive power for at least six months – at which point new elections could be called.
Speaking to reporters in the Great Hall after the postponement, Ms O’Neill said that eight days after the election, the DUP had “boycotted the executive branch” and “punished the public for its own selfish interests”.
Asked by The Irish Times how long the procrastination process could last for one speaker, Ms O’Neill insisted that it “should not be a lengthy process”.
“I think it’s ridiculous that we haven’t formed an executive director today. The protocol is here is a stay. Let us use this time with the EU and the British government to work together to smooth its implementation. This should not stop the functioning of the executive and the assembly here. “
Ms O’Neill confirmed that her party colleague John O’Dowd will take over as Stormont’s infrastructure minister, replacing Nicolas Malone of the SDLP, who lost her seat in parliament last week.
‘shameful’
Addressing the media, the Alliance’s apparently angry party leader Naomi Long said it was a “shameful day for the DUP” and addressed DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, who, despite winning a seat at the Lagan Valley assembly last week, chose to continue his role as Westminster MP.
On Thursday, the Northern Ireland Electoral Service confirmed that former DUP MP Emma Little-Pengeley had been co-opted to replace Mr Donaldson on Stormont’s benches, although she had not run in the parliamentary elections.
Ms Long said Donaldson had “disappeared into his safety net” in Westminster.
“This is a sad day for the people and a shameful day for the DUP. The day the DUP came to Stormont, they signed the register, took their salaries, but refused to take their places and do the work to earn it. “
Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beatty also condemned the DUP’s failure to nominate a spokesman as “absolutely embarrassing.”
“People will be cold and hungry in their homes; there will be silence from this house. People will desperately call ambulances; there will be silence from this house.
“The only thing that will have a constant from today will be silence.”
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