Fianna Fáil's decision to appoint the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, as the head of the party's local election campaign creates an unacceptable conflict of interest, the Labour Party has said.
"This is an appointment that will undermine public confidence in the impartiality of the election process and I am calling on Minister Cullen to stand down as head of his party's election campaign," said Labour's environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore.
The Minister will decide the date of the election, the length of the campaign and polling stations' opening hours. "These are decisions that could have an impact on the outcome of the election and the Minister would clearly be hopelessly compromised by his party electoral role," Mr Gilmore said.
The Minister will also be responsible for the expansion of electronic voting to all constituencies. Mr Gilmore said there needed to be a clear separation of functions between political parties and the administration of the electoral system. Mr Cullen should end his role in the election and "carry out his statutory functions in a fair, impartial and non party-political manner", he said.
