Northern Ireland’s first minister has stepped down from the region’s power-sharing government on the brink of collapse over police allegations that the IRA still exists, the BBC reported.

Peter Robinson’s announcement came after his Democratic Unionist party, the largest at Stormont, was defeated in a vote to suspend the assembly for emergency talks to take place.

Robinson said his DUP colleague and finance minister Arlene Foster would become temporary first minister, but all his party’s other ministers would resign.

The move by the DUP is designed to keep devolution going for a few more weeks. Robinson stressed that he hadn’t “technically resigned”.

Keeping Foster inside the executive as both acting first minister and finance minister keeps the devolved government alive in “zombie form” and buys the parallel talks process about six weeks, a DUP source told the Guardian.

However, Robinson’s exit – along with three of the DUP’s four other ministers – has left the 13-minister administration in freefall. The departments of health and social care; social development; enterprise trade and investment; and regional development are now effectively rudderless.

Robinson said: “In light of the decision by republicans, nationalists and the UUP to continue with business as usual in the assembly, I am therefore standing aside as first minister and other DUP ministers will resign with immediate effect with the exception of Arlene Foster.

Source: MENA