NI election 2022: Aontú 'only party committed to political reform'

Aontú launched its manifesto in west Belfast

Aontú is the only party committed to "serious political reform" in the upcoming NI Assembly election, its leader Peadar Tóibín has said.

The TD (member of the Irish parliament) was speaking as he launched Aontú's manifesto in west Belfast.

He founded the anti-abortion party in 2019, having quit Sinn Féin after it changed its stance on the issue.

Mr Tóibín said assembly members' salaries should be stopped if they did not do their job.

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He said the current system of power-sharing in Northern Ireland was "the most dysfunctional political system in the western democratic world", and urged the electorate to stop "voting negatively".

"That's not hyperbole - it needs radical change right now," he added.

"No one political party should have the right to take down the democratically elected people's assembly."

The party is running 12 candidates in the election on 5 May and currently has two councillors in Northern Ireland.

This will be the third election it has contested in Northern Ireland since being set up.

Its manifesto pledges include:

• Challenging abortion laws "on both sides of the border"

• An emergency payment of £500 to middle-to-low income families to deal with the cost of living crisis

• Wanting a referendum held on a border poll within the next five years

• Calling for a "new and proper" investigation into the death of Noah Donohoe

• Ending zero-hour contracts

Mr Tóibín argued that Stormont is broken and said unless voters choose differently next week, "we're going to be talking about the same problems in 10, 15 years' time".

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