PRO-REPUBLIC campaign groups have joined calls to drop the oath of allegiance to King Charles at Holyrood.
The National reported how SNP MSP Kevin Stewart submitted a motion calling for the oath to be dropped, saying that MSPs should "pledge allegiance to the people of Scotland and not an unelected monarch".
In Holyrood, MSPs are required to pledge their “true allegiance” to the monarch when they are sworn into the Scottish Parliament.
The motion has so far been backed by 15 MSPs: 13 from the SNP, in addition to Scottish Labour's Mercedes Villalba and independent MSP John Mason.
Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic has also supported the motion, dubbing the oath "offensive and meaningless".
Republic most recently staged demonstrations in Holyrood in July as the King and Queen arrived for the beginning of "Royal Week".
The group also disrupted a garden party being hosted by King Charles at Holyroodhouse Palace by unveiling a large sign reading "Not my King" on a hill overlooking the grounds.
Smith told The National: "It should be a no-brainer that in a democracy our elected politicians should swear allegiance to the people and to uphold the constitution."
"An oath of allegiance to Charles is offensive and meaningless, all it does is force MSPs to lie in order to take their seats."
"The reality is that MSPs are there to serve the people of Scotland, not an English monarch, a billionaire who represents the worst of British history."
Smith added: "With Grenada ditching the oath and Jamaica well on the way to becoming a republic, now is the right time to ditch oaths to Charles, in Holyrood and right around the UK."
Last week, the Grenada government announced it was dropping the oath of allegiance to King Charles, amid growing calls to remove the monarch as the Caribbean island's head of state.
The change will remove the words "His Majesty King Charles the Third, His Heirs and Successors" from the pledge of allegiance and replace them with "Grenada".
Our Republic, a pro-republic campaign group based in Scotland, has also supported calls for the oath of allegiance to be dropped in Holyrood.
The group said "elected representatives should not be required to pledge allegiance to an unelected head of state", as it called on MSPs to continue the tradition of challenging the oath following next year's Holyrood election, when MSPs will have to be sworn into the Scottish Parliament again.
A spokesperson for Our Republic told The National: "Scotland has a long history of the concept of sovereignty of the people and rule by consent dating back nearly a thousand years to the Declaration of Arbroath. This proud tradition should be restored by a new oath for our parliamentarians and ministers showing their allegiance to the people they were elected to serve – not a distant unelected monarch.
"Instead, as in 2021, we've seen increasing numbers of MSPs forced to protest their own oaths in order to take this stand. We will be calling on all those elected next year to do the same until the call for the oath to change is recognised."
Our Republic said dropping the oath "should be an issue of unity" among parliamentarians who "understand their role as representatives and the importance of popular consent to rule in our democracy".
The group added: "We hope all MSPs will see the value in making this a fundamental principle of our Parliament and join support for this motion.
"This is Scotland's heritage, tradition, democracy, and future."
