SIR Jeffrey Donaldson has cast further doubt over a speedy restoration of the Stormont Executive after the May 5 election by declining to take the vacant assembly seat in Lagan Valley.
Despite the DUP leader repeatedly stating publicly his desire to return to Stormont, his party yesterday co-opted councillor Paul Rankin to replace Edwin Poots, who last week moved to South Belfast.
Mr Rankin will be in the role for just two weeks ahead of the dissolution of the assembly at the end of March.
Sir Jeffrey yesterday insisted he wanted to "seek a mandate from the people of Lagan Valley" as he denied speculation that he had declined the opportunity to join the assembly to avoid triggering a Westminster by-election.
"I am going to the electorate on 5 May. I am putting my name forward..
"The idea that I or the DUP are running away from the electorate is for the fairies," he told BBC NI.
But rivals criticised the move, with Alliance saying the DUP leader's unwillingness to join the assembly implied "he’s happy to threaten everyone’s job except his own".
TUV Lagan Valley candidate Lorna Smyth said people were entitled to ask why Sir Jeffrey had "declined the opportunity to return as an MLA for the constituency he has represented at Stormont and Westminster for a quarter of a century".
Brian Feeney, columnist with The Irish News, said the co-option of Mr Rankin reinforced the expectation that the DUP would not return to the executive immediately after the assembly election.
The political commentator said Sir Jeffrey claimed a delay in restoring the executive was about the protocol but that "a lot of people believe the real reason is that Sinn Féin will top the poll".
"There are only ten days left of this assembly son it would be meaningless for Donaldson to join something he wants to collapse," Mr Feeney said last night.
"He needs to get elected to gain justification and vindication for his antics in the past year. He needs a ladder he can climb down."
The DUP has yet to confirm which candidates it will run in Lagan Valley.
