The DUP leader claimed Northern Ireland could see a return to “street politics”.
Edwin Poots has claimed Sinn Féin could cause a resurgence of violence if they refuse to nominate a Deputy First Minister to the Stormont Executive.
The DUP now fear that Sinn Féin will not comply with the seven-day timeframe to replace the outgoing executive due to Poots’ refusal to commit to Irish language legislation during the upcoming term.
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster, Poots said “time will tell” when the language act will be passed, but that “setting pre-conditions” for nominating a first and deputy first minister was “not appropriate”.
“It’s not respecting someone’s mandate, and we cannot be in a circumstance where we have pre-conditions set for the selection of our first minister. And I’m not setting pre-conditions to the selection of Sinn Féin’s deputy first minister,” he said.
“Our community is in a very tense situation at this moment in time.
“We saw riots on the streets of Belfast earlier this year. And I have serious concerns about the potential for conflict once again on our streets.
“Not only if Sinn Féin do not nominate the deputy first minister are all of those issues not going to be served well, we are putting our very peace at risk as a consequence of that action.
“If Sinn Féin are going to play fast and loose with the very peace that people enjoy at this moment in time, then that is a very, very serious consideration for them to take. Hopefully they won’t.”
Lagan Valley MLA Paul Givan is expected to become First Minister when Arlene Foster formally quits her position, setting in motion a seven-day period in which the Deputy First Minister must also be nominated, or re-nominated in the case of Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill.
Failure to do so would see the British government call a snap Assembly election.
Sinn Féin have accused the DUP of “acting in bad faith” and being “disingenuous” about their commitment to deliver the Irish Language Act, declaring that the nomination for first and deputy first minister had to be accompanied by the legislation.