Alex Salmond has told Humza Yousaf that the SNP will face “electoral disaster” if it does not back his call for just one pro-independence candidate in each constituency.
In an open letter to the First Minister, he said the pro-independence movement is in “danger of handing the seat to Labour on a platter”.
He said it looks as if there will be five pro-independence parties standing at the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.
As well as the SNP, the Scottish Socialist Party and the Independence for Scotland Party have both indicated that they will stand.
The Greens and Mr Salmond's Alba could also put forward candidates.
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Alba has previously said they would back the SNP’s Katy Loudon as the Scotland United candidate, but only if Mr Yousaf backs the principle of just one pro-independence candidate in each constituency.
In his open letter, Mr Salmond said he first wrote to the First Minister on May 13 before making contact privately through his staff to request a meeting.
He has now sent a further open letter following Mr Yousaf’s claims he had not heard from his former party leader about electoral proposals during an Edinburgh Festival Fringe appearance.
Mr Salmond wrote: “This is untrue. To consider the possibility that you are in the dark about these approaches, I have now released the attached open letter asking you to consider the Scotland United for Independence proposal for the next general election at the SNP conference in October.
“The process of replacing Labour as the dominant party in Scottish politics started well before you even joined the SNP.
“It would seem more than a setback to the independence cause to let them regain a foothold by fielding multiple pro-independence candidates in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.”
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He called on the First Minister to respond by Friday August 25 in time for the Alba national council’s meeting the following day where the party will decide whether it will contest the seat.
Following the letter, Mr Salmond said: “Humza Yousaf and the SNP are on a slippery slope to electoral disaster.
“Unless he takes averting action there are likely to be no less than five pro-independence candidates in Rutherglen.
“The danger is handing the seat to Labour on a platter. There is no surer way of inviting a major reverse in this first significant test of Humza Yousaf’s leadership.”
There is little chance of Mr Yousaf agreeing to Mr Salmond's plan.
When the proposal was first raised, Pete Wishart, the SNP’s longest-serving MP, branded it “ridiculous” on Twitter.
“It's a ridiculous proposal designed to get an unelected party MPs on the back of SNP votes,” he wrote.
“We'd be severely punished by the Scottish electorate if we partnered a toxic party on 2% of the vote that has never won an elected representative in any election.”
He said the proposal would "kill any chance of independence."
"Alba in their current state are totally toxic and would put people off if they were in any way associated with the mainstream movement," he added.
Correction: This article initially described Volt UK as a pro-independence party. That was incorrect.
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