The Women's Coalition has launched its manifesto for the Assembly elections with an appeal to voters to support "a new voice for new times". It also strongly attacked the larger parties for failing to put up more women candidates.
The party's co-founder, Ms Monica McWilliams, said the proportion of women standing in the elections was "the lowest ever". "Either the other parties haven't done any work in encouraging women to stand, or they are still giving the jobs to the boys." Fighting its fifth election in two years, the Coalition is anxious not to be seen as a single-issue party, however. The campaign manifesto launched in Belfast yesterday outlines policies in a wide variety of areas, including health, education, social welfare and economic development.
The party has eight candidates standing in the elections on June 25th, none of whom is expected to have more than an outside chance of winning a seat. However, Ms McWilliams insisted she was "likely" to win in South Belfast and predicted Coalition candidates were "in with a chance" in a number of other constituencies.
The party is asking supporters to give their second and later preferences to candidates supporting the Belfast Agreement.
Among the policies proposed in the manifesto is a proposal to create two new ministries for the areas of children and families and environmental protection.
According to the manifesto, disbanding the RUC is "not an option". However, change is "inevitable" and policies need to be introduced to correct the under-representation of Catholics and women in the force.
The Coalition supports decommissioning, but says this should not become an obstacle to political progress. The release of prisoners should occur "in the context of a proper recognition of the rights and needs of victims", the manifesto states.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Ulster Democratic Party, Mr John White, has called on the newly created Sentence Review Commission to review the cases of two Scots Guardsmen serving life sentences for the shooting of a teenager in Belfast in 1992.
Mr White said it would be a "travesty of justice" if paramilitary prisoners were released and the "special circumstances" of the two soldiers were not considered.
The Workers' Party candidate for West Tyrone, Mr Tommy Owens, said the election was the first in a generation which was about "bread-and-butter issues" rather than the national question. "No longer can the politically bankrupt disguise their dearth of ideas by waving flags or mouthing armchair slogans," he said.
The Conservative Party has nominated Ms Lesley Donaldson as its candidate for East Belfast. She accused the other parties of supporting "the outworn socialist policies of the `nanny state' " promoted by the Labour government.
The Green Party's candidate for Strangford, Mr Andy Frew, called for genetically engineered food to be segregated and strictly labelled. Farmers had produced good-quality food for generations and did not need the risk posed by inadequately tested science, he said.
The Ulster Unionist candidate for North Down, Mr Peter Weir, said more police resources should be devoted to fighting "ordinary crime". "Crime needs to be nipped in the bud at an early stage. There should be no hiding place for criminals in North Down."
