Humza Yousaf is considering quitting as Scotland’s first minister rather than face two confidence votes, BBC News understands.
A source close to Mr Yousaf said that resignation was now an option but a final decision had not yet been taken.
“The clock has been ticking ever downwards,” the source told the BBC on Sunday night.
Mr Yousaf has faced a fight for survival as first minister after abruptly ending the SNP’s power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens last Thursday.
- Author, James Cook
- Role, BBC Scotland editor
He is understood to have ruled out a deal with Alex Salmond’s Alba party, and his prospect of surviving a vote of no confidence in his leadership is now dependent on the Scottish Greens.
He needs the support of at least one member of the opposition at Holyrood to survive the vote, which could take place as early as Wednesday.
The parliamentary bureau, made up of the presiding officer and MSPs from the main parties, will decide this week when the vote takes place and normally gives two days notice.
Jettisoning the deal with the Greens, known as the Bute House Agreement, provoked a furious reaction from his former partners in government.
He now faces two motions of no-confidence this week, one tabled by the Scottish Conservatives in his own leadership as first minister and another from Scottish Labour which would force his entire government to resign.
The Greens are due to meet later on Monday but have repeatedly ruled out supporting him in the personal vote.
The Scottish Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have already said they will vote against him.
If nothing changes, that leaves the first minister facing a choice of defeat in a confidence vote or resignation in advance.
The SNP has 63 MSPs in the 129 seat parliament, so if the seven Green MSPs vote against him, he is reliant on support from the sole Alba party MSP Ash Regan to continue in his role.
That would lead to a 64:64 tied vote in which case the presiding officer would be expected to vote to maintain the status quo.
The motion of no confidence in him personally is not binding but if he lost he would come under intense pressure to step down.
If he lost the government vote, MSPs would have 28 days to vote for a new first minister or automatically trigger a Scottish parliamentary election.
Alba, a rival pro-independence party led by former first minister Alex Salmond, has been outlining a list of demands that might persuade Ms Regan to support the first minister.
At an emergency meeting on Sunday, Alba’s governing body formally approved Ms Regan’s plan to pursue the issues of independence, “women’s rights” and the “restoration of competent government” in any negotiations.
Mr Salmond told BBC News he was also looking for a move away from “the culture wars” and a shift towards the “people’s priorities,” which he said were health, housing, transport, education and the economy.
He said he expected Ms Regan to hold talks with Mr Yousaf in the coming days.
But a deal with Mr Salmond’s party is opposed by many within the SNP, and could open up further internal divisions.
A source close to Mr Yousaf told the BBC on Sunday evening “there is going to be no deal,” with Alba.
The Scottish government has not confirmed a time for any meetings with opposition figures or even that they will definitely go ahead.
Weakened authority
Two SNP MPs, Stewart McDonald and Pete Wishart, have come out publicly against the idea of a deal with Alba.
One senior SNP figure told BBC News it would be intolerable for any SNP leader to be beholden to Mr Salmond, whose estrangement from the party he twice led is a source of bitterness all round.
Even if he were to survive the vote of no confidence, Mr Yousaf’s…
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