Upheaval within the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) resembles a “soap opera” and risks destabilising Northern Ireland, according to the region’s justice minister and Alliance party leader, Naomi Long. She expressed concern that the power-sharing executive at Stormont did not know when – or whom – the DUP would name as Northern Ireland’s new first minister. “My bigger concern at the moment is just that it does feel at times politics is a bit of a soap opera here. We could do with a little less drama and a little more progress,” Long told BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme on Wednesday. The warning came as pressure mounted on Edwin Poots, the DUP’s new leader, to name his cabinet and assert authority over a party split into warring factions. Since ousting Arlene Foster as party leader in an internal revolt last month, the DUP has endured walkouts, resignations and allegations of paramilitary intimidation. Poots also faces a battle with Sinn Féin over a proposed Irish-language act and demands from DUP hardliners to ratchet up opposition to the Irish Sea border. Either issue could collapse Stormont, triggering an early election and possible electoral disaster for the DUP, which trails in polls. Rather than take the post of first minister himself, Poots, 55, wishes to name a party colleague, leaving him to focus on reorganising the DUP. After losing the party leadership, Foster said she would step down as first minister at the end of June. However, amid toxic infighting Foster said she would leave the party altogether and quit as first minister once Poots named his choice. The new leader had been expected on Tuesday to shuffle DUP ministers. The party has three senior cabinet posts, plus the first minister post, with Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Alliance and the Ulster Unionist party sharing the other posts. However, Poots deferred the appointments, saying he would do so in a few days “when ready”, underlining acute dilemmas. He is under pressure to placate, discipline or in some way control the sizeable chunk of his party that wanted Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, a Westminster MP, as the new leader. Foster’s vow to quit when Poots names his choice as first minister complicates the decision because her resignation would also oust the deputy first minister, Michelle O’Neill, of Sinn Féin, and start a seven-day countdown to fill both posts. There is speculation Sinn Féin will demand a long-delayed Irish-language act – anathema to many unionists and loyalists – as the price of rebooting Stormont. “Any unionist who concedes such would do well to reflect on how they will sell it on the doorstep come the next election,” Jim Allister, the leader of Traditional Unionist Voice, a DUP rival, wrote in the Belfast News Letter.
A recent poll showed DUP support plunging to 16%, far behind Sinn Féin and level with Alliance. Many unionists blame the DUP for the Northern Ireland protocol. Poots this week rejected an EU proposal for a Swiss-style deal to overcome trade barriers and checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The DUP is riven over personalities, policies and tactics. Foster and Donaldson supporters, stung by defeat, have hinted they will defect or stay just to fight the new leader. Ian Paisley, a DUP MP aligned with Poots and the party’s conservative Christian wing, has stirred a fresh row by announcing an “outreach” programme to loyalists. Long, the justice minister, asked if this was code for paramilitaries. “My issue is with those is that maintain paramilitary structures, coercive control in the community and all those negatives of paramilitarism and terrorism and still have a seat at the table.”