"Any post-election partnership working should be based purely on the arithmetic and on the policy overlap and that policy work should derived totally independently of the views of our coalition partners," he said.
Nick Clegg will launch the Liberal Democrat manifesto with a stinging critique of Labour's record on civil liberties and human rights – criticism that makes the prospect of a post-election partnership between the two parties more remote.
Negotiated joining helps make sense of the pre-partnership trajectory, in which an aspirant must develop a "platform" for election to partnership: domain expertise comprising a unique configuration of role components and individual client relationships that takes advantage of the aspirant's skills and inclinations and is relevant to the firm's needs.
Will they come over as representatives of two parties that are likely to fight the next election in partnership?
Within hours, the opposition Fine Gael Party, which is widely expected to win the election in partnership with the Labour Party, moved to hasten the election.
The two main parties still rely on first-past-the-post to deliver an overall majority for their party and see no reason to go into an election in partnership with another party.
It then asks: "The Co-operative is a financial supporter of the Co-operative party, which fields candidates in UK national, devolved and local elections in partnership with the Labour party.
Some scholars have summarized relationship types as follows: consultation of resource exchange, joint partnership, election, authority to acquire resources, and advocate for a marginalized group.
Six: Partnerships with election commissions – "We will expand our partnerships with election commissions around the world.
The worse Mr Clegg's party does in the polls, the more reason he has to avoid an election by preserving his partnership with the Tories.
That is the view of the President Sebastian Pinera, who made the introduction of civil partnerships an election pledge in 2009.
