Former Scottish leader launches new pro-independence party

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Scotland's former first minister, Alex Salmond, announced Friday that he is making a return to frontline politics at the head of a new pro-independence party in upcoming elections.

Salmond, who was acquitted last year in a sexual assault trial, denied that the launch of his party named Alba - the Scottish Gaelic word for Scotland - would weaken the cause of independence from the United Kingdom in the May 6 Scottish Parliament election.

The governing Scottish National Party, which Salmond led for two decades until 2014, hopes to use the vote as a เกมสล็อต springboard to another referendum on Scottish independence, and is leading in opinion polls. The new party is the latest twist in a bitter feud between Salmond and with his successor as SNP leader, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

“Today Alba are hoisting a flag in the wind, planting our Saltire (Scotland's flag) on ​​a hill. In the next few weeks we will see how many will rally to our standard, "Salmond said during an online party launch.

He insisted that Alba would help complement the SNP, voicing hope that a “super-majority” for independence will emerge after the elections as a result of the launch of the new party.

"Our campaign that we have launched is going to be entirely positive," Salmond said.