JUSTICE Secretary Kenny MacAskill has clung on to his job after surviving a no confidence vote at Holyrood.
MSPs rejected a call for him to resign by 62 votes to 54, with a single abstention.
First Minister Alex Salmond led an almost full complement of SNP MSPs backing the embattled minister after he faced claims he had "abandoned his responsibilities".
MSPs voted on a motion tabled by Graeme Pearson, Scottish Labour's justice spokesman, which accused Mr MacAskill of a "failure to provide effective governance of Police Scotland".
It criticised the long-serving Justice Secretary for not ensuring proper oversight of the force during recent controversies over the use of armed officers on routine patrols - a policy since scrapped amid growing public disquiet - and the way it sets performance targets.
The Scottish Police Authority was consulted on neither policy despite assurances from Mr MacAskill that the civilian watchdog body was able to hold the chief constable to account.
Speaking after the vote, Mr Pearson, a former senior police officer, said: "I'm disappointed the SNP have decided to fall in line and failed to put the integrity of the justice system before party politics.
"This is not a publicity stunt, it is a justice secretary that is fast losing the confidence of Parliament, as shown by the cross-party support."
He added: "While Nicola Sturgeon backed Kenny MacAskill during the vote, it is widely expected she will sack him in a matter of weeks. She is only delaying the inevitable."
Labour, Conservative, LibDem and Green MSPs supported the call for Mr MacAskill to quit.
However, 60 out of the SNP's 64 MSPs were present to back the justice secretary at decision time.
Independents John Finnie and Jean Urquhart, both former SNP MSPs, also voted against the motion while John Wilson, another who left the Nationalists to become an Independent, abstained.
In a debate before the vote, Mr Pearson said Mr MacAskill had "abandoned his responsibilities in relation to police reform".
He said: "He's tired, lacking ideas and gracelessly refuses to listen, leaving it to a private power struggle between officials to deliver."
He added: "His incompetent handling of the Megrahi affair, corroboration, stop and search, office and control-room closures have all been characterised by his view that everything is now someone else's responsibility.
"His absence in the armed police debate was, in my view, the final straw."
Margaret Mitchell, justice spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: "The deployment of armed police to routine incidents has been a particular source of concern for the public.
"When the public's trust in Scotland's law and order enforcers is in danger of breaking down, the ultimate responsibility lies with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice."
Alison McInnes, justice spokeswoman for the LibDems, said Mr MacAskill "has long outstayed his welcome".
Mr MacAskill told MSPs: "Policing should not be used as a political football and Mr Pearson should stop traducing the police and the Scottish Police Authority, and should stop undermining the morale of officers and staff.
"He should stop attempting to score cheap political points at the expense of thousands of hard-working officers and staff who cannot answer back.
"We should applaud the continued strong performance of our police and recognise that Police Scotland, working with the SPA, is listening to concerns and acting on them, unlike Mr Pearson and his colleagues."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article