A no confidence motion against the Scottish Government will be heard in Holyrood on Wednesday, it has been confirmed.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar announced his intention to push ahead with the vote to unseat the SNP as the governing party.
It follows a tumultuous week for Humza Yousaf after his abrupt ending of the Bute House Agreement saw him announce his resignation as First Minister.
While it is unlikely the motion will pass â as the SNP and Greens are unlikely to vote for it â all Scottish ministers would be compelled to stand down if it is voted through, with parliament given 28 days to appoint a new First Minister, failing which, a snap election would be called.
The Tories and Liberal Democrats are likely to back the Labour motion but it would likely fail to get the votes required.
The Tories withdrew their own motion against Mr Yousafâs leadership after he announced his intention to resign.
However, speaking to the PA news agency on Tuesday, Mr Sarwar said he wanted to use the motion to highlight the need for a Holyrood election following the turmoil in the SNP.
He said the âgenie was out of the bottleâ for the SNP, adding: âI think this is a dysfunctional, chaotic, divided political party.â
In a meeting of Holyroodâs parliamentary bureau on Tuesday, the Labour motion against the Government was confirmed for Wednesday afternoon.
Arguing the Government was âincompetentâ and could not be saved by a new leader, Mr Sarwar said: âWe will not be withdrawing the motion.
âI think the Greens and the SNP obviously have already made it clear they would not support such a motion but the principle of that motion still stands.
âI have no confidence in this SNP Government.â
He said pressing on with the motion of no confidence despite it being unlikely to pass parliament was a âpoint of principleâ.
Mr Sarwar also said the decision on Scotlandâs new political leader should be put to the public.
He said: âWe also want to highlight the democratic deficit as they themselves described it when they were talking about Westminster and the Conservatives.
Mr Sarwar said he was âdesperateâ for a Scottish election alongside a Westminster one, which will be held later this year, adding his party was âready for electionsâ.
Greens MSP Gillian Mackay has said the confidence vote was a tool to âembarrassâ Mr Yousaf further, and accused Labour of âparliamentary game-playingâ.
She said: âLike the withdrawn Tory motion, the Labour one has clearly been overtaken by events. Pursuing it would achieve nothing, and would simply mean more parliamentary game-playing.
âLabour MSPs have spent the last few days saying the government needs to get back to running the country, so why do they want to waste the valuable time of the Scottish Parliament, staff and MSPs by carrying on with this charade when it has no chance of passing?â
Ms Mackay added: âWe bear no personal animosity to the First Minister or the SNP, and, as Scottish Greens, are already getting back to business.â
Meanwhile, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross declared âjob doneâ as he announced the intention to withdraw his partyâs motion of no confidence in Mr Yousaf.
Instead, Mr Ross said Holyrood should hear from the Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC on the Post Office Horizon scandal during the time provisionally set aside for their motion on Wednesday.
He said: âIâm delighted that the Scottish Conservative motion of no confidence in Humza Yousaf achieved its purpose by forcing him to resign.
âWhile, on a personal level, I wish him well for the future, he was a disaster as First Minister and itâs in Scotlandâs interests that he goes.
âThe next goal for my party is to see off this feuding, failing SNP government and switch the focus away from their independence obsession and on to the publicâs real priorities â such as growing the economy and improving Scotlandâs ailing public services.
âAs itâs job done in terms of Humza Yousaf, thereâs no longer any need for us to press ahead with a debate on our no confidence motion.â
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