 to support the election of an assembly Speaker and stop blocking the formation of an executive.A political vacuum looms, with no indication the political deadlock will be broken before Friday's 00:01 BST deadline - 24 weeks since May's election. Caretaker ministers at Stormont will be removed from office and senior civil servants will be in charge.The assembly - which has been meeting only for special recalls since the election - would also be dissolved.A pre-Christmas election, if called, will partly fill the void, but there is a risk it could make things worse rather than better.Positions could harden during an election campaign and, if there was a very low turnout, the validity of the result could be questioned. Mr Heaton-Harris, who has been in office since 6 September, has consistently said in recent weeks he will call the election, rather than try to delay it or avoid it with fresh legislation at Westminster. The most likely date for a poll is 15 December.A decision on this could come quickly, perhaps as soon as Friday.Ministers have been in post, but with only limited powers, since the DUP withdrew from the executive in February.This is because DUP, which is the largest unionist party at Stormont, has also blocked the election of an assembly speaker as part of its anti-protocol protests.The protocol is the trading arrangement, negotiated during the Brexit talks, which means g){kind=link}
Northern Ireland’s politicians have until midnight to restore the power-sharing executive – or face new elections.
The executive is made up of ministers from the largest parties, and is designed to ensure unionists and nationalists govern together.
The DUP is stopping its formation in protest against the NI Protocol.
If it is not restored, the Northern Ireland secretary has said he will call an election.
Sinn Fein and the Alliance Party have backed a motion to bring back assembly members for a special sitting and are calling on the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to support the election of an assembly Speaker and stop blocking the formation of an executive.