Ian Paisley Jr, the British MP suspended from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) for accepting and failing to disclose luxury holidays to Sri Lanka and carrying out "paid advocacy" for the Sri Lankan government, has avoided a by-election as a recall petition in his constituency gained only 7,099 signatures, falling just 444 short of the required number to force a by-election.
The recall procedure in Paisley’s constituency of North Antrim, by which a by-election could be called if 10 per cent of constituents signed a petition, was automatically opened when the MP was suspended from the House of Commons for 30 sitting days.
The Sinn Fein said they were disappointed with the outcome and criticised the recall process.
Sinn Fein MLA for North Antrim, Philip McGuigan said:
“The result should also not be taken as an endorsement of Ian Paisley’s actions but rather as an indictment on the Electoral Office who did not do enough to facilitate the people of North Antrim who wished to sign the petition.
“They had the option of opening as many as ten locations where people could sign the petition, yet they inexplicably opted to go for just three in Ballymena, Ballymoney and Ballycastle.
“A number of parties – not just Sinn Féin - expressed concerns that many people did not feel comfortable attending some of these locations because it would be obvious that the only reason they were there was to sign the petition.
“The lack of an effective public awareness campaign and the restrictive opening hours of the signing centres were also major factors.
“Nevertheless, the issues raised by this scandal are not going away and neither are the questions for the DUP leadership.
“Ian Paisley was given the most severe sanction handed down by that parliament in 70 years.
“He was suspended over his links to the notorious Sri Lankan regime. He accepted lavish holidays from the Sri Lankan government and then lobbied to prevent the UN investigating the mass murder of Tamil civilians by that same government.
“Despite this, Ian Paisley’s party leadership have yet to condemn these actions or to confirm whether or not he still has their support as MP for North Antrim.
“That is a failure of leadership. They need to come out of their hiding place and address the very serious issues at the heart of this scandal.”
The disciplinary action was taken by the Commons standard committee after it emerged that Paisley had taken his family on all-expense paid luxury holidays to Sri Lanka, reported worth around £100,000, and failed to register them. Paisley then wrote to then-British Prime Minister David Cameron in support of the Sri Lankan government in what amounted to “paid advocacy” which “brought the House of Commons into disrepute”, a report concluded.
