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| - The leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party on Thursday announced his resignation, after just three weeks in office, as the pro-UK party entered meltdown just hours after installing a new first minister in office. Edwin Poots -- who formally assumed office as DUP leader on 27 May -- said in a statement that he has "asked the party chairman to commence an electoral process ... to allow for a new leader". His resignation casts into doubt the position of Northern Irish first minister Paul Givan, who was installed in office at midday on Thursday. It also raises the prospect of Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive collapsing into a snap election, in the latest sign that Brexit has upended the political landscape of the deeply divided UK province. Poots ousted his DUP leader predecessor Arlene Foster for appearing too soft in her opposition to a controversial post-Brexit "protocol" governing Northern Irish trade. He installed loyal ally Givan as the new first minister and the hardline duo were expected to escalate the battle against the "protocol" -- a growing source of rancour for pro-UK unionists in the region. However, regional media reported outrage amongst his DUP colleagues that he nominated Givan without consulting them, after the British government stepped in to settle a longstanding dispute with opposing pro-Ireland party Sinn Fein. Poots announced he is stepping down after an evening summit of party lawmakers at the DUP headquarters in Belfast. "The party has asked me to remain in post until my successor is elected," he said in a statement. "This has been a difficult period for the party and the country and I have conveyed to the chairman my determination to do everything I can to ensure both unionism and Northern Ireland is able to move forward to a stronger place." Since the start of 2021, new post-Brexit trade arrangements have vexed unionists by effectively placing a trade border between the province and the mainland UK nations of England, Scotland and Wales. Checks must now be performed on goods crossing the Irish Sea from Britain to Northern Ireland, which has the UK's only land border with an EU member -- the Republic of Ireland. Under the leadership of Foster the DUP vehemently opposed the trade protocol but were powerless to prevent it, and many unionists feel it warps their constitutional place in the UK. Discontent over the trade arrangements fuelled a week of rioting in April which spread from unionist communities into pro-Ireland nationalist enclaves and saw at least 88 police injured. Now Northern Ireland is bracing for the summer season, when sectarian marches occur and tensions have historically boiled over. But addressing other lawmakers in the region's devolved Stormont assembly, Givan had struck a conciliatory tone earlier Thursday. "We must all recognise that there is much more that we have in common than separates us," he said. Northern Ireland was the site of "The Troubles", a sectarian conflict which saw 3,500 killed by bombs and bullets as pro-UK unionists, pro-Ireland nationalists and British security forces waged battle over the territory. Under the terms of a 1998 power-sharing peace deal, unionists and nationalists must govern in tandem. Filling the top two jobs for the devolved executive had been delayed by disagreement over long-stalled Irish language legislation -- a persistent source of contention. Sinn Fein had refused to nominate a deputy first minister unless the DUP made commitments over the law, raising the prospect of a snap election. However, following late night talks, Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said the parties had agreed a deal after he committed to passing the legislation in London if the assembly in Belfast fails to do so by the autumn. jts/pvh/kjl
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