SOUTH Down Assemblyman John McCallister is refusing to resign his seat despite coming under pressure from a powerful Ulster Unionist group in South Down.
Mr. McCallister, who last week resigned from the party in protest at the party’s decision to join with the DUP in running a joint candidate in the Mid Ulster Westminster by-election, has refused to go despite coming under pressure from the UUP’s South Down Constituency Councillors Group.
UUP councillors from Down and Newry and Mourne have united to call for the former party deputy leader to resign his seat and allow an Ulster Unionist to be co-opted to fill his place.
Mr. McCallister said he “fundamentally disagrees” with the principle of unionist unity, claiming his former party’s co-operation with the DUP was leading local politics “back into the sectarian trenches.”
The call for the MLA to “immediately resign” his Assembly position came following a special meeting of UUP councillors from Down and Newry and Mourne in Newcastle on Monday night.
The South Down Constituency Councillors’ Grouping said it is “disappointed and feels extremely let down at Mr. McCallister’s decision to quit the party.”
The local councillors gave their backing to unionist unity candidate Nigel Lutton in next month’s by-election and say they support the decision of the Mid-Ulster Unionist Association and UUP leader Mike Nesbitt to endorse Mr. Lutton’s candidacy.
The local councillors also gave an assurance that they would continue to work resolutely “in the best interests of unionism in the Mid and South Down areas.”
Their statement added: “We call on Mr. McCallister to resign his Assembly position immediately and allow the South Down seat to be returned to the Ulster Unionist Party.”
Rejecting calls to go, Mr. McCallister said while the views of the local unionist councillors were not unexpected, he intends to remain in the Assembly as an Independent.
He continued: “I have never hidden or disguised my views as a moderate, supporting a progressive brand of pro-union politics that I would like to see in South Down and Northern Ireland. I was elected on this mandate and will therefore serve out my full term at the Assembly. I have no plans to step down.
“I warned consistently about unionist unity and have always wanted to see the Ulster Unionist Party being independent. But that party has pretty well left me. I told the South Down Constituency Association at its recent annual meeting that I would be sticking to the values and principles I was elected on.”
Mr. McCallister claimed the Ulster Unionist Party has “gone in a different direction” and explained the hardest part of his decision was leaving the South Down Association.
“I want to place on record my thanks to it and for its support over the years. But this unity issue and almost merger with the DUP is something I do not support. I could not continue to be a member of the Ulster Unionist Party,” he declared.
“The call for me to resign my Assembly position is pretty standard fare and this happens when anyone leaves a political party. It is not unexpected that such a call would be issued. That is the nature of politics.”
Mr. McCallister said he firmly intends to maintain the platform on which he was elected to serve, vowing to continue to work as hard as he always done for the people of South Down.
He added: “I am going to continue to represent South Down in the Assembly to the best of my ability, but during debates I will have a slightly different role. It will be one of opposition, challenging the Executive and holding it to account.”