BBC Scotland News understands that if the Scottish Greens vote to scrap the power-sharing agreement, the SNP will form a minority government.
Co-leader Patrick Harvey said the situation had “reached a climax” after members called for a discussion on how to proceed.
The Green Party plans to hold an extraordinary general meeting to decide on the issue.
The BBC understands it will hear a single motion on “whether the party continues to work with the Scottish Government”.
Prime Minister Humza Yousaf said he valued the power-sharing agreement, known as the Bute House Agreement, and did not expect it to be scrapped.
But despite calls from senior SNP figures such as Kate Forbes, party members have indicated they will not seek a new vote on the issue.
Mr Yousaf reiterated his support for the deal before a pro-independence march in Glasgow, which was also attended by Green Party MSP Ross Greer.
Asked whether he expected to lead a minority government anytime soon, he said: “I don't think so, but it's clear that the Greens will have to have a discussion.”
The First Minister added: “I really value the Bute House Agreement. We have achieved a lot in government and I want to continue to achieve a lot with the Green Party.” Ta.
“Our members have voted before. The Bute House Agreement has been controversial and we support it because it delivers on people’s priorities and has achieved much in government. doing.”
image source, Getty Images
Patrick Harvey and Scottish Green Party co-leader Lorna Slater, both Scottish Government ministers, will argue that their party should remain in Scotland.
Mr Slater said the purpose of the special general meeting was to give members the opportunity to decide how to proceed, almost three years after joining the SNP in government.
She said: “We have achieved more for people and the planet in the past 32 months than any other political party in decades. We would like to ask our members to tell us how they would like to build on this progress. We would like to hear from you about whether you would like to continue doing so.
“As we have seen in recent years, months and days, not everything in politics is easy, but our strength as a green movement is that, given half a chance, we can achieve To confront the destructive forces that will ignite everything we have done.”
The Scottish Green Party has approximately 7,500 members. They will all vote on whether their party should remain in power.
But the impact will go far beyond membership.
The whole logic behind the Bute House Agreement was that it would facilitate government. A (more or less) guaranteed majority means (in theory) that the budget and legislation will pass Holyrood.
If the Greens abandon it, the SNP will rule alone, but without a majority.
It means negotiating with other parties to get something done. It eats up time and political capital.
We are not there yet – this green vote is still weeks away.
But the Scottish Greens do have concerns. And the idea that members will vote to leave cannot be ignored at this point.
The party has not announced a date for the meeting, but the BBC said it will take place about four weeks after members were notified by email of the meeting.
Green Party MSP Ross Greer said he was confident members would vote to “support our role in government and the good we are doing for Scotland as a result”.
He added: “Leaving Scotland will not improve the lives of people in Scotland, and it certainly won't help the planet.
“If we leave government, there will be no more climate action. There will be fewer of them.”
Patrick Harvey also defended the Greens, who remain in government, saying their participation had led to “record investment in climate and nature, free bus travel for more young people, rent protection and more”.
But Scottish Green Party councilor Chas Booth, who represents Leith on Edinburgh City Council, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland program that he would vote to withdraw his support.
“To completely withdraw the 2030 target without replacing it with a more achievable goal seems to me to be, in some ways, giving up on the issue of climate change and pulling back,” he said. It's unacceptable from my point of view.”
'mutual benefit'
Following NHS Scotland's announcement, the party's LGBT wing, the Rainbow Greens, launched a petition campaign questioning the future of the deal with the SNP.
Jen Bell, co-convenor of the group, said the move contradicted the Butehouse agreement's promise to “put trans patients at the center of decisions about their own healthcare”.
Dr. Cass said there was “not enough evidence” that puberty blockers, which she defined as hormone treatments that halt the progression of puberty, are safe.
Party sources say Scottish Green Party members' votes are binding.
The Butehouse agreement is described as a “shared draft policy program” in areas of mutual interest, including climate change, economic recovery from the pandemic and child poverty.
We also incorporate the natural environment, energy, and constitution.
The Scottish Greens and the SNP both advocate Scottish independence.
The Scottish Government's decision to abandon its 2030 emissions target has left the Green Party exposed to the barrage of criticism increasingly directed at the deal's senior partners.
Craig Hoy, chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party, said the Greens “should have no access to the levers of power within government”.
He added: “The coalition between the pro-independence SNP and the anti-growth Greens has been a farcical disaster for Scotland.
“The overwhelming failure of this deeply damaging nationalist coalition has had a devastating impact on local communities and businesses, which is why the Bute House Agreement needs to be scrapped.”
Scottish Labor deputy leader Jackie Baillie said it was no surprise that Greens had “lost faith” in the SNP-Greens government, which had “failed to deliver on every front”.
He added: 'While Green MSPs are cheering Humza Yousaf at Holyrood, he is siding with oil and gas giants who are making billions in profits by slashing climate targets. ing.
“The failure of this SNP-Green Government will mean higher bills, fewer green jobs and other countries winning the global race for clean energy.”
tax increase
“I love ambition, but it's about being able to actually achieve it,” he said.
“What we have seen this week is desperately disappointing for the Scottish countries, who have essentially withdrawn their target framework almost entirely, leaving the net-zero target in place but with a 2030 target. The 2040 target has been deleted.
“And the reason they did that is because the 2030 target was too ambitious.”
Humza Yousaf is also under pressure from within his party to end the power-sharing agreement.
Kate Forbes, who Mr Yousaf narrowly defeated in the SNP leadership race just a year ago, was among those calling for the Bute House agreement to be scrapped.
He said in December: “Almost every issue that lost our support last year was in the Bute House agreement and not in the SNP manifesto.”
Ms Forbes said the Green Party had progressive, ideological policies that were unpopular across the country and were hurting rural areas with overregulation and tax increases.
The party is grappling with some difficult policy issues, with legislation stalling on issues such as ocean protection and bottle recycling.
