LONDON, JUNE 28: The Ulster peace deal, which British leaders were holding out to the world as a model political deal, has run into rough weather with pro-Good Friday deal parties failing to secure a dominant position in the 108-seat strong Northern Ireland Assembly.With most of the results for the elections to the new Assembly out by late last night, the bulwark for Premier Tony Blair's and United States President Bill Clinton's much touted historic Ulster peace deal the Ulster Unionist Party of David Trimble emerged as the leading party with 29 seats, just the same as anti-peace deal Rev Ian Paisley's Democratic Union and United Kingdom Unionist Party combine.The best showing was by the Irish nationalist parties with John Hume's Nationalist Social Democratic party and Sinn Fein having a combined strength of 41 seats in the new Assembly.But the danger for the pro-Ulster deal parties comes as some of those elected on the Ulster Unionist banner are those who are now openly questioning the accord andcould join in key opposing votes in the new Assembly.Mo Mowlam, Northern Ireland secretary, kept up a brave face saying the first ever elections to a new Northern Ireland had thrown up enough support to carry forward the historic Ulster deal.But, anti-peace deal extremist Unionist party leader said elections were a definite signal of an end to what he called nationalist appeasement deal.To add to the woes of the Ulster Unionist Party, many of the newly elected legislators were openly proclaiming that they would refuse to sit in an Assembly with Sinn Fein. Like party MP William Thompson, who said: ``I would leave the party if it shares power with Sinn Fein.''The bitter split in the pro-peace deal Unionist camp were manifest yesterday after the accord opponent had scored a series of early victories. As another party member, Jeffery Donaldson, indicated: ``Voters seems to have deserted the party.'' But another prominent party leader added, ``It does not appear that voters have deserted Trimble'smoderate Unionist party, but they have also posted a big warning about the peace deal itself.'' Donaldson described last night results as the ``Unionist's biggest disaster ever in elections.''Said Paisley, ``Trimble is finished as a political leader. Dublin is sick. Tony Blair is sick. All their lies to the people have caught up with them. This so called peace deal is dead. It has to be rectified.''The Unionists emerged with 29 seats only because of the strange electoral system introduced in Northern Ireland when they got the second preference transfer votes of their old enemies the nationalists.On the nationalist side, Sinn Fein continued to build its electoral strength, winning a record 17.6 per cent of the votes to end up with having 17 members in the new Northern Ireland Assembly, which now will ensure that they have up to two members in the new 10-member Irish ministry, which would be sworn in after the weekend.Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook have been holding outthe Good Friday Ulster peace deal as a model to solve complex problems like in the Middle East and South Asia. But with the fractured Ulster Assembly elections results, and pro-accord parties like the Ulster Unionist Party, SDLP and Sinn Fein not in a dominant position in the new legislature, British political commentators said it was hard to predict whether the peace deal could be successfully taken to its logical conclusion.
