The political orientation and underlying intentions of the Alba Party have become subjects of scrutiny.
Following Nicola Sturgeon’s arrest, there has been a noticeable surge in the activities of Alex Salmond, who previously led the Scottish National Party (SNP) and currently leads the Alba Party.
Despite his prominent past, Salmond failed to attain dominance within the SNP due to Sturgeon’s influential presence. Salmond’s objective revolves around forging a partnership between the Alba Party and the SNP.
In this pursuit, he endeavours to secure votes in favour of independence, primarily benefiting himself and his party, Alba. Salmond seeks to amplify Alba’s impact on Scotland’s independence movement.
Implicitly, he conveys to Hamza Yusuf and other SNP leaders that the path toward independence would only be possible with his involvement.
He emphasises the need to compel the SNP to accept Alba’s participation in the upcoming Scottish government. As the situation unfolds, drawing definitive conclusions about Salmond’s true intentions at this stage would take time.
It remains too early to make conclusive judgments regarding his motivations and aspirations.
Alba Party
According to Aljazeera, former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond announced the creation of a new party in 2021.
Salmond led the pro-independence SNP to two consecutive election victories at the Scottish Parliament in 2007 and 2011. He said the party aimed to build a “supermajority” for independence from the UK.
As Scottish Daily Express says, Alex Salmond’s Alba party has attracted many fans from the extreme fringes of the movement. However, it failed to win any seats at its first Holyrood election.
Is Alba Party left or right-wing?
Bella Caledonia has expressed its perspective on the Alba Party, referring to it as the “Unconscious Right.” This political entity presents itself as a liberation movement and hails its leader as a champion of freedom.
However, Bella Caledonia contends that beneath this facade lies an undercurrent of misogyny and cultural conservatism.
Interestingly, despite considering itself left-wing, the party holds interconnected reactionary beliefs. The concern is that the party poses a threat to the electoral campaign, not due to having a coherent political agenda or concrete policies, but rather to embodying chaotic discord, opportunism, and a sense of entitlement.
Despite these criticisms, it should be noted that Alba Party maintains a stance in favour of an independent future for Scotland. On its website, the party describes itself as social democratic.
Notable figures within the party include left-wing politician Tommy Sheridan, as reported by The Scotsman, and centrist-right figure Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, as highlighted by Prospect Magazine.
ALBA: a pro-independence party
As it says on UK and EU Websites, the SNP represents a mainstream nationalist opinion.
It focuses on various means of achieving agreement for a referendum. However, the recently-formed Alba needs more time for such dithering.
In today’s dynamic landscape of blogs, Twitter accounts, and forums, there is a bustling community with diverse viewpoints on attaining independence.
Some members of this community argue that the Declaration of Arbroath supersedes the 1707 Act of Union, which formerly brought together the parliaments of Scotland and England.
Consequently, they believe that the existence of the United Kingdom is fundamentally flawed and unlawful. According to these proponents, achieving independence for Scotland is as simple as making a declaration through a Post-it note or a Tweet, thus settling the matter decisively.
As the National Records of Scotland says, the Declaration is a letter. The barons and community of the kingdom of Scotland wrote it to the pope in 1320.
In the letter, they asked the pope to recognise Scotland’s independence and acknowledge Robert the Bruce as Scotland’s lawful king.
Salmond against Sturgeon and Yousaf
Scottish Daily Express says Alex Salmond has weighed into the debate surrounding Humza Yousaf’s refusal to suspend Nicola Sturgeon from the SNP.
Police arrested and questioned Sturgeon as part of a probe into the party’s finances.
Humza Yousaf continues to resist calls to suspend Ms Sturgeon, the former first minister.
The Alba leader says that Yousaf’s line of not suspending Sturgeon is perfectly defensible. However, Salmond reminds Yousaf that it’s not the line Sturgeon took with various people – including Salmond himself.
Mr Salmond resigned from the SNP in August 2018. He left after two people accused him of sexually harassing them when he was in office.
At the time, Ms Sturgeon said she agreed with the decision. She said the party was “bigger than any one person”.
Pact between Alba, SNP and Scottish Greens
According to Scotsman, Alex Salmond calls for a pro-independence pact between Alba, the SNP and the Scottish Greens for the general election.
As ALBA Party Website says, Alex Salmond writes to all SNP Members of Parliament. He Urges them to Back General Election Independence Pact.
He has written to SN MPs to urge them to support a Scotland United for Independence pact at the coming General Election.
The ALBA Party leader wants pro-independence political parties to unite at the Westminster poll. He wants a single candidate to stand in each constituency and represent the independence cause.
The vast majority of these candidates would be sitting SNP MPs. However, there should also be ALBA Party, Green Party and some independent candidates who support the independence cause.
A “Scotland United” approach to independence
According to the ALBA Party’s official website, its leader is determined to confront the UK Government head-on. The party seeks to foster a “Scotland United” approach for the upcoming General Election.
In the 2014 referendum campaign, the SNP enjoyed support of nearly 50%, while backing for independence stood at approximately 30%.
However, Alex Salmond argues that the situation has reversed since then, with support for independence now reaching around 50% and SNP support experiencing a decline.
ALBA Party proposes that the various factions within the independence movement join forces during the General Election, making independence the campaign’s primary focus.
The question arises: What are Salmond’s intentions? Does he aim to spearhead the independence movement solely for his campaign, or does he seek to unite all pro-independence parties to safeguard Scotland from Westminster’s control?
The answer to this query remains to be determined, as it requires further examination of Salmond’s strategies and motivations.
