It was supposed to be day of choreographed formalities. Freshly elected MLAs would officially sign the register, Arlene Foster would be nominated to remain as First Minister, and Martin McGuinness would be nominated to remain as Deputy First Minister. But then Mike Nesbitt dropped a bombshell when he announced that his party would form Stormont’s first official opposition to sit alongside the power-sharing Executive. “Let battle commence,” he declared.

“Oh, here we go,” I hear you grumble. “They’re only a day into the job and already they’re locking horns. Surely we need parties to work together, not to fall out with each other even more.” It’s certainly a paradox, but the Ulster Unionist Party’s move into opposition happens to be one of the most constructive developments we’ve seen in Northern Ireland politics for quite some time. A further paradox is, of course, that while Mike Nesbitt is now leading his party into opposition, it was his leadership rival, John McCallister, who made the case for the move four years ago.

Let’s start from the beginning. The principle of power-sharing is designed to allow a place as deeply divided as Northern Ireland to be governed in a way that is inclusive and, therefore, in such a way as to prevent one group from being dominated by another. Northern Ireland’s history would suggest that this is a very wise precaution indeed. The problem, however, is not the principle of power-sharing. Rather, the problem is the misguided belief that power must be shared by as many as five individual parties.

It is certainly a noble aspiration to represent as many people as possible in government. In practice, however, it isn’t so straightforward. If a government is to be effective at representing anyone, let alone everyone, it must be cohesive. The last Executive was anything but cohesive. The Ulster Unionists and SDLP each held one ministry out of a total of thirteen seats around the Executive table, leaving them with little real influence. Just look at the budget. You would expect that each of the parties of government would at least support the government’s own budget, if nothing else. Despite being in government for much of the last 9 years, the Ulster Unionists and SDLP have either abstained or voted against successive budgets passed by the Executive of which they were members. If they refuse to accept the government’s core spending plans, and if they cannot influence those plans in a way to make them more acceptable, then what is the point of being a part of that government?

Not everyone sees it like that. Martin McGuinness described the UUP’s move as a display of weakness: “It will be seen as a lack of the Ulster Unionist Party’s ability to accept the democratically expressed wishes of the people who have charged both the DUP and Sinn Féin with the responsibility to lead this administration.” In his own words, however, the Deputy First Minister unwittingly provides the perfect reason as to why the smaller parties should enter opposition. Everybody knows that the DUP and Sinn Féin possess real power in the Executive. They were and will remain the joint leaders of Northern Ireland’s government. By letting the two larger parties get on with the business of governing, the Ulster Unionist Party is precisely accepting the democratically expressed wishes of the people. Having secured 12.6% of voters’ first preferences, and having failed to increase its share of seats in the Assembly, does the Ulster Unionist Party really have a convincing mandate to govern? Rather than undermine power-sharing and democracy, the UUP’s decision will help to make power-sharing to work better and in a much more responsive, democratic fashion.

There is, of course, a lot of irony behind Mike Nesbitt’s bold announcement. It could be argued that the party didn’t really have much of a mandate to enter government after the last election, or perhaps even the election before that. Indeed, when John McCallister stood for the party leadership against Mike Nesbitt in 2012, his core message was based around taking the party into opposition. He argued that the Ulster Unionists needed to offer the electorate a clear alternative to the other parties in government if it were to see any significant increase in support. Nesbitt, on the other hand, was much more cautious. He argued that since the formal structures to facilitate an opposition did not exist at that stage, it would make little sense to take a unilateral leap into the unknown.

Those formal structures are now in place after a long and arduous journey. Despite losing his leadership bid, John McCallister put the idea of opposition firmly on the agenda. When he left the Ulster Unionists along with Basil McCrea in 2013, their new party, NI21, was created specifically to advance an alternative to Northern Ireland’s existing parties. The party was heavily critical of Northern Ireland’s inefficient political system and vowed to compete elections on a platform of opposition; not for the sake of opposition, but in order to hold the parties of government to account and to provide the electorate with meaningful choice. After NI21 imploded, John McCallister continued the fight for an official opposition as an independent MLA. It seemed like an impossible task, but eventually it came to fruition. Against the odds, the Assembly passed John McCallister’s Opposition Bill in February of this year. The day after it passed he wrote in the Newsletter, “It’s over to the parties to ensure that the voters have meaningful choice on May 5 – let the voters know whether you intend to opt for the Executive seat or become the opposition the Assembly needs.”

In the end, neither the Ulster Unionists nor the SDLP did let voters know whether they intended to opt for the Executive or opposition. Both parties were ambiguous in their respective campaign messages, and both paid the price on May 5. So far the Ulster Unionists appear to have learnt their lesson, and the SDLP is giving every indication that it too will join them in opposition. They are both finally coming to terms with political reality. Unfortunately for John McCallister, the reality of politics has been mercilessly cruel. Having tirelessly championed the creation of an opposition, the voters of South Down failed to reward his effort in paving the way for a stronger and healthier form of democracy in Northern Ireland. Cruel as politics can be, it’s just as well that John’s dedication to the cause of opposition is matched by his sense of humour: “Apart from losing my seat, it all worked out well.”