LONDON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire ruled out another snap election Monday for a devolved power-sharing government.
But Brokenshire said time was running out for political parties to find a way of restoring self governance to the region, after a deadline for an agreement passed.
The two major parties, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein, failed to resolve their differences before the expiration of the deadline.
Brokenshire will make a full statement Tuesday to the House of Commons at Westminster.
Speaking at Stormont, home in Belfast of the devolved government, shortly after the deadline passed, Brokenshire said he was extremely disappointed an executive had not been formed in Northern Ireland.
"There will be widespread dismay across the community," he said, adding: "Over the past three weeks, we have been engaged in intensive talks and progress has been made on a number of issues."
Brokenshire said the British government had been active in making positive proposals to try and bridge these gaps and help the parties to move things forward. "Despite these efforts, agreement at this stage has not proved possible," he added.
Brokenshire said he believed that there remains an overwhelming desire among the political parties and the public in Northern Ireland for strong and stable devolved government.
"We now have a short window of opportunity to resolve outstanding issues and for an executive to be formed. Everyone owes it to the people of Northern Ireland to grasp that and provide the political leadership and the stability they want," he said.
He said the short window would only last for a matter a few weeks. After that, Brokenshire said he will have to order a new snap election or restore rule over Northern Ireland from London.
Under the peace formula that brought three decades of violence to an end, a power sharing executive and parliamentary assembly was established. Under the rules, this has to be headed by the two major political parties, the DUP and Sinn Fein. So far, the two parties have failed to resolve their differences, leading to the ongoing impasse.
