The SNP and the Scottish Greens expected to confirm the power-sharing agreement | Scottish politics

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The minority government of Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Green Party are expected to confirm the postponement of a power-sharing deal after months of intense negotiations, bringing the Greens into government for the first time anywhere in the UK.

Details of the deal, which fell short of a formal alliance, are expected to be announced later on Friday after the plans received final approval by the Scottish Cabinet, the first time the SNP has shared power in Holyrood in 14 years in the Government.

This must then be confirmed by Scottish Green members on August 28, a tight deadline given that it only occurs three days before Sturgeon is due to address MSPs about her program for the government.

The Guardian previously reported that the Scottish Greens expect the deal to include the appointment of two Green Board members – expected to be co-leaders, Patrick Harvey and Lorna Slater – as junior ministers.

In anticipation of the announcement, opposition parties have criticized the deal. Scottish Conservatives have described the Greens as “extremists” who “don’t belong anywhere near the government”, while Labor denounced them as a “coalition of cuts”, claiming that they “confirm long-standing suspicions that the Scottish Greens are merely a branch office of the SNP.” “.

After the Scottish National Party lost one seat from the majority in the Holyrood elections in May, the agreement would formalize the majority in favor of independence.

Understandably, the singular arrangement, which would not amount to a full alliance, with both parties bound by collective responsibility, has proven to be a challenge for civil servants who have had to create a new set of rules governing the obligations and ability to oppose both. aspects.

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