A former SNP Justice Secretary has added his voice to calls for Alex Salmond to be readmitted to the party.
Kenny MacAskill said the former First Minister should “of course” be allowed to rejoin after being acquitted of sexual assault charges.
The call came as it emerged SNP rules may prevent Salmond from becoming a member again until the autumn.
Salmond has been investigated over allegations of sexual misconduct for two years, first by the Government he used to lead and then by the police.
He quit the SNP in August 2018 and explained his decision by saying he wanted to blunt opposition attacks on the party.
After Salmond was acquitted of multiple counts of sexual assault this week, senior MP Joanna Cherry called for him to be readmitted without delay. MacAskill, who is also an MP, has echoed this demand.
However, when Salmond resigned, party rules stated that any member who quit had to wait two years before they could apply again.
If Salmond can only rejoin in August, it may be too late for him to seek selection for an SNP candidacy for the Holyrood election.
Speculation is mounting that Salmond has unfinished business at Holyrood, but it is unclear whether he would like to rejoin a party he led.
One ally - who didn’t want to be named - told the Daily Record he would not be surprised if Salmond created a new pro-independence party ahead of next year’s Holyrood election.
Another Salmond supporter, Chris McEleny, an SNP councillor in Inverclyde, has also called for the party to “reinstate” web pages relating to Salmond that were reportedly taken down from the party website.
Although Salmond led the party for nearly a quarter of a century, it was reported in 2019 that the “history” section of the SNP website made no mention of him.
McEleny wrote: “Hi, SNP staff, can you update the history pages please to reinstate all the bits you deleted please.”
Salmond ally Joanna Cherry said this week: “It goes without saying that Mr Salmond must be allowed to re-join the party without delay, if that is what he wishes to do, and that his place in the party’s history must be restored to the prominence it deserves.”
