Disgraced Derek Mackay is undergoing “medical assessment and treatment” after resigning for allegedly “grooming” a 16 year old boy.
A source close to the former SNP Finance Secretary said he will be absent when Holyrood returns from recess this week.
Mackay quit Nicola Sturgeon’s Cabinet after initiating contact with the teen and pestering him with 270 messages.
Some of the messages were flirtatious and he asked the schoolboy to keep the exchanges secret.
After he resigned, which was on the eve of his Budget, a second male came forward to allege unwanted contact over four years.
Opposition leaders have called for Mackay to quit as an MSP, but he has so far clung on.
A source told a newspaper: “Derek Mackay is currently undergoing a process of medical assessment and treatment and will be absent from parliament as a result.
“He understands that he faces questions, including about his position as an MSP, and hopes to be able to answer them as soon as possible.”
Voters cannot “recall” MSPs for unsatisfactory behaviour and Mackay could hold on to his job until next year.
Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw described Mackay’s action as passing the test of “grooming”
