ALBA have said the party has been "put on an election footing" following an emergency meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC).
The meeting was held on Sunday as First Minsiter Humza Yousaf prepares to face a confidence vote in the Scottish Parliament this week.
After all three Unionist parties and the Greens confirmed they would be voting against Yousaf, Alba MSP Ash Regan has become key to his survival.
If she supports Yousaf it is likely he will survive the vote, but if she doesn't he is likely to lose it.
The Tories announced they would be lodging a motion of no confidence in Yousaf after the First Minister ended the Bute House Agreement with the Greens on Thursday morning.
READ MORE: Ian Blackford addresses Scottish Greens ahead of no confidence votes
Alba sent a briefing note out to the media on Sunday which said: "At an emergency meeting of the Alba Party National Executive Committee held today (Sunday), Alba Party’s NEC approved the proposal of Ash Regan MSP to put the party onto a Scottish Parliament election footing in the event that an early election is required."
Regan also set out to the NEC what her priorities would be in any negotiations this week with Yousaf which include independence, women's rights and the "restoration of competent government".
The party said she received the unanimous backing of the ruling body to pursue these priorities “in the best interest of Scotland”.
Alba leader Alex Salmond has denied reports he proposed an electoral pact between Alba and the SNP as part of neogtiations.
"Given that I never made that proposal in the first place, that was an overwrite in a Sunday newspaper, we're not particularly bothered by that," Salmond said.
Yousaf - who has not ruled out an early Holyrood election - enraged the Greens when he sacked co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater from their ministerial posts at Bute House on Thursday.
READ MORE: Alex Salmond claims BBC interview sparked Scottish politics 'crisis'
He was accused of "political cowardice" and Slater told the BBC Sunday Show she "could not imagine" what Yousaf could say to them to make them change their mind on the confidence vote despite his pleas.
Yousaf has urged the Greens to reconsider, insisting the parties still have many shared priorities including Scottish independence.
The First Minister could also face a confidence vote in his Government after Scottish Labour said they would table this on Friday, but it seems much less likely this would succeed.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel