HUMZA Yousaf has addressed the SNP leadership contest for the first time since announcing his resignation on Monday.
The First Minister, who will remain in place until his successor is found, confirmed his intention to stand down this week after the SNP's governing deal with the Greens ended - sparking no confidence votes in Yousaf and his government.
In a new interview with BBC Scotland, Yousaf discussed how the relationship with the Greens came to an end and spoke on his party's leadership election.
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READ MORE: Scottish Parliament calls out 'massively' wrong story on Humza Yousaf
So far, John Swinney and Kate Forbes have confirmed that they are considering running in the race. Neither has officially launched their candidacy.
In his comments, Yousaf appeared to call on members not to criticise Forbes's religious beliefs. The MSP is a member of the Free Church of Scotland and has been criticised for her views opposing abortion and gay marriage.
The First Minister told BBC Scotland he would not publicly back anyone who throws their hat in the ring.
READ MORE: SNP MP urges members to avoid 'repeat of last year' in leadership race
Yousaf told the broadcaster: “I would say to supporters of any candidate that we will gain nothing if we talk each other down.
“The only people who benefit from that are our opponents.”
He also urged people to judge the candidates on their policies instead of religious beliefs.
“What people will judge any potential candidate on are their policies, what they stand for, what they will advocate, what they might end up moving away from in terms of policy,” he said. “That is the right discussion to have – not whether somebody of faith can be first minister.”
Elsewhere, the First Minister said the SNP and Greens' relationship had become "strained".
He explained that Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie’s comments on child gender services in Scotland upset some in his party.
Harvie questioned the scientific evidence of the Cass review on NHS England services, which also saw health boards in Scotland pause new prescriptions of puberty blockers.
Yousaf told the BBC: “I made it very clear my position and the government’s position was on the Cass review, but it is fair to say that of course those comments that were made by Patrick Harvie on the Sunday Show did upset a lot in my group.
“We co-operated well with the Greens for almost three years on a number of issues but it was clearly becoming strained – the Bute House Agreement.”
Yousaf said he thought it was “a matter of days or weeks” until the powersharing deal with the Greens came to an end, however he said: “But I accept fully the manner in which it was done clearly caused upset and therefore I’ve paid the price of that.”
In an interview with LBC, Yousaf said his "political calculation" was that he "couldn't imagine the Greens lining up with Unionist colleagues to bring down an SNP first minister".
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