Gerry Adams plans to nominate Ian Paisley as First Minister of Northern Ireland in the Assembly on Tuesday week. He will also nominate Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister.
The DUP characterised this nomination as a "gimmick" and Dr Paisley yesterday predicted the proposal would be ruled out of order by Assembly speaker Eileen Bell.
An Assembly spokesman, however, said that under standing orders Mr Adams is entitled to nominate Dr Paisley.
It would then be for the Assembly speaker Eileen Bell to invite Dr Paisley to accept or reject the nomination.
Dr Paisley made clear yesterday that he "certainly will not be accepting anything from Gerry Adams". He said Mr Adams should be "realistic" and realise that until republicans had fully eschewed violence and criminality there would be no government with Sinn Féin.
"Until he meets the requirements I am required to meet to be in government, until that is settled there will be no First Minister and no second Minister," added Dr Paisley.
While the notion of Mr Adams nominating Dr Paisley to head a Northern Executive at Stormont ostensibly is remarkable, it will be a largely academic exercise because there is no chance of a deal until November 24th at the earliest - the deadline for the full return of devolution set by the British and Irish governments.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony Blair are expected to discuss the return of the Assembly when they meet on the margins of the EU summit in Vienna today.
The Assembly resumes at Stormont after a 3½ year absence on Monday when MLAs will register as unionist, nationalist or "other". On Tuesday business leaders are due to address Assembly members on how devolution is good for the Northern economy.
On Monday week the members are due to engage in the doomed enterprise of electing a Northern Executive. It is then that Mr Adams is expected to nominate Dr Paisley and Mr McGuinness.
He said that if that was unsuccessful, Sinn Féin would again try to elect an Executive before the Assembly breaks for the summer towards the end of June.
Mr Adams implicitly acknowledged the reality of Dr Paisley scorning his nomination. "Do I believe Ian Paisley will be First Minister? I don't know. I don't even know if he knows. But I'm sure he will be conscious of the irony involved in Sinn Féin preparing to go to Stormont to have him elected as First Minister."
Mr Adams said that in the weeks ahead Sinn Féin would only enter the Assembly to deal with issues pertaining to the election of an Executive.
It would refuse to debate issues in the chamber such as education, water charges, health and rates increases because the Assembly in such circumstances would "be nothing more than a talking shop".
