Ian Paisley Jr’s Luxury Sri Lankan Escapade: On Hypocrisy & Foreign Affairs Mismanagement
Dr. Chamindra Weerawardhana
On 19th July 2018, the session at the Westminster House of Commons was a sight that said a lot about the polities and politics of both Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka. Ian Paisley Jr MP, offspring of the late Dr Ian Paisley Sr MP[later Lord Bannside] and the Baroness Paisley of St George, delivered a ‘personal’, if not mea culpa ‘statement’, which concerned two luxury holidays in Sri Lanka, fully paid for by the Government of Sri Lanka, for himself and his family. In Paisley’s own admission, “it is with profound personal regret and deep personal embarrassment” that he made his statement [the full text of the statement is available here].
The Current Backdrop: Northern Ireland, the Stormont stalemate and the DUP
To those new to the politics of Northern Ireland, Paisley Jr is the Westminster MP for North Antrim, one of the 18 Westminster constituencies in the Province. At the 2017 UK General Election, the results in Northern Ireland very clearly displayed the emergence of what can be termed a largely ‘two-party’ system in the province’s polity, with 10 of the 18 seats going Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP – founded by our protagonist’s father, the late Ian Paisley Sr), the strongest Unionist voice, and 7 seats to Sinn Féin, the strongest Irish Nationalist voice (Sinn Féin MPs practice a policy of abstentionism, and do not take their seats at the Westminster House of Commons).
Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Executive has been in a months-long stalemate over disagreements between DUP and SF. Although the Good Friday Agreement’s institutions and elite cooperation-focused political makeover was intended at collaborative governance by and representation of all political hues in the province, it eventually led to the somewhat unexpected outcome of strengthening the strongest advocates of Unionism and Irish nationalism, a development that some analysts describe as the rise of ‘tribune’ parties. Currently, the DUP’s ten MPs hold a significant position in the Conservative Party’s balance of power. Reaching an accord with the DUP, to the tune of allocating £ 1 billion of extra public funds to Northern Ireland over the next two years, was Prime Minister Theresa May’s main strategy to form a ‘minority government’ and remain in power after the 2017 general election resulted in a hung parliament. Consequently, the DUP currently gets more national British media coverage than usual, and is in the limelight on a constant basis.
In hot water for a sunny holiday?
To the ardent Unionist and leading DUP figure, things certainly do not look good.
The House of Commons Committee on Standards (HCCS)has produced a damning report of Paisley Jr’s Sri Lankan escapade. There is a likelihood that he could be forced to stand down and face a by-election.
On the 19th of July 2018, and as per standard practice, the recommendation of the HCCS to suspend Mr Paisley Jr went before the House, in the form of a motion moved by the Leader of the House.
A Commons vote then suspended Paisley Jr from the House of Commons for a period of seven weeks, the longest suspension issued for a sitting MP in 15 years. This ban is also estimated to be one of the longest bans issued by the House of Commons in 70 years. Given the DUP’s current arrangements with the British Conservatives, the suspension [to begin on 4th September 2018], affects Theresa May’s parliamentary majority by one vote, which risks affecting key Brexit votes to come in the autumn of 2018.
As a consequence of legislative changes made in 2015, this ban risks triggering a petition calling for Mr Paisley to stand down [often referred to as a ‘Recall Petition’]. If 10% of the electorate signs the said petition within a duration of six weeks, a by-election should be called in Paisley’s constituency of North Antrim.
