ALEX Salmond is to make a public statement this afternoon amid rumours he may stand for Holyrood.
The former First Minister will hold a virtual press conference at 2pm.
READ THE LATEST: Salmond launches rival party to SNP for Holyrood election
The subject has yet to be announced.
However there is speculation he could stand for Holyrood in May's election as an independent in the style of Margo MacDonald.
Ms MacDonald was elected three times as a list MSP, twice with less than 7 per cent of the Lothians regional vote.
Mr Salmond would be confident of picking up a similar level of support in the North East of Scotland region.
He could also try to win a constituency seat.
His old friend Stewart Stevenson is retiring as the MSP for Banffshire & Buchan Coast, which could make that seat on option, though it would mean him standing against the SNP, the party he led for 20 years.
The fledgling Action for Independence (AFI) party has urged Mr Salmond to join it, although its association with convicted perjurer Tommy Sheridan could make that unattractive.
Earlier this week, Mr Salmond announced he was taking fresh legal action against the Scottish Government over its bungled sexual misconduct probe into him in 2018.
It followed a scathing Holyrood inquiry report into mistakes in the case and in the way the Government defended a judicial review action Mr Salmond sucessfully brought against it, showing the probe had been "tainted by apparent bias".
Mr Salmond said the Government’s top civil servant, the Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, had refused “to accept real responsibility” for the blunders on her watch.
He said: “This cannot stand. I have therefore taken legal advice and will shortly be instructing my lawyers to bring proceedings in the Court of Session arising as a direct result of the conduct of the Permanent Secretary.
"I hope it is the only legal action that I am required to take."
He also announced he was making a police complaint about details of the bungled probe being leaked to the Daily Record in August 2018.
He then said: “I intend to make no further public comment on these issues and will leave the police and the courts to do their job.”
That self-imposed ban on further comments has fuelled speculation that today’s statement is about the Holyrood election campaign.
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