Nicola Sturgeon’s deal between the SNP and Scottish Greens will “fall apart” if either side make impossible requests of the other, Patrick Harvie has said.
The Green co-leader, who is expected to take a ministerial post in the Scottish Government, said a shared approach would not work if the SNP ploughed ahead with policy not backed by the Greens
Harvie said: “Ultimately, if that’s the approach they take then this agreement wouldn’t work.
“This agreement is going to be predicated on good faith and depend on the building of trust between both sides.
“That means the Scottish Government is going to have to recognise that they can’t put the Greens into impossible positions and it’s going to give the Greens the responsibility that what we’re arguing for, what we’re demanding within government is achievable and deliverable, that we’re not asking for the impossible but we’re showing how change can be made possible.”
He added: “If either side, the SNP or the Greens, decide that we’re going to just demand impossible things from the other side then it will fall apart and the agreement would end at that point
An agreement between the two parties, which will see two Scottish Green MSPs enter government and a move towards a shared policy platform, was announced on Friday.
The SNP national executive committee approved the deal on Saturday, with a consultative poll of members set for next week, while Green members will vote next Saturday on the agreement.
But the deal will be grounded in co-operation between the two sides in government, the Greens co-leader has said.
Harvie added: "Both sides are going to have to work together."
“If there’s good faith, if there’s trust building and if both sides work in the spirit of this agreement as well as the letter of it, then it’s going to be extremely successful.”
Harvie said it could take until the middle of this week for a final decision to be made between himself, co-leader Lorna Slater and the First Minister on who will take up ministerial office from the Greens and what portfolios they will work within.
