In a statement, the politician has indicated that it seeks to avoid internal divisions in the nationalist formation, after some requests for it to be suspended.
Former Scottish Prime Minister Alex Salmond today announced his resignation from the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) following allegations of sexual harassment, which he denies.
In a statement, the politician has indicated that it seeks to avoid internal divisions in the nationalist formation, after some requests for it to be suspended.
The former prime minister, who managed to hold a referendum for Scottish independence in 2014, stressed that he intends to rejoin the SNP when he regains his reputation.
"Ridiculous" accusations
The Scottish autonomous government had conducted an internal investigation into the allegations against Salmond, and decided, last week, to refer them to the police, but the politician denied having exercised any type of harassment when he was in charge of the Scottish Executive, and qualified the accusations of "ridiculous".
Salmond announced his decision through to video released on Wednesday night to the media, in which he said he had written to the general secretary of the training to communicate the resignation.
"I have been a member of the Scottish Nationalist Party for 45 years, 20 of them as a formation leader and seven as Scotland's chief minister," said Salmond, who expressed hope for working hard for Scottish independence: "I really want to to the SNP and to the broad independence movement in Scotland, these have been decisive commitments in my life, but today I have written to the general secretary of the party to renounce my affiliation, "he said in his message.
He also acknowledged that the Scottish Chief Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, was facing pressures from other political parties for him to be suspended from the nationalist party.
"I did not enter politics to facilitate the attacks of the opposition to the SNP and, as Parliament returns to its sessions next week, I have submitted my resignation to dispel these attacks by the opposition," he said.
"But above all," I added, "I know that if the party feels forced to suspend me, it would cause considerable internal division."
Complaint against the Scottish Government
Last week, Salmond announced that he was filing a lawsuit against the Scottish Government, on the grounds that it did not allow him to defend himself during the internal investigation carried out.
According to the Scottish media, the complaints of harassment were made last January by two people who were part of the Executive staff, while Salmond was still the chief minister.
The events allegedly occurred, according to the press, allegedly in December 2013 at Bute House, the official residence of the Chief Minister in Edinburgh.
A few days ago, Sturgeon said that the accusations against Salmond, although they were difficult to accept for her and "annoying" for her party, should be investigated in a "fair and adequate" manner.
Salmond was Scotland's chief minister from 2007 to 2014, until the time when, in the UK independence referendum, 55% of Scots voted against the separation. That result triggered his resignation, and was replaced by Sturgeon at the head of the Government and the SNP