NICOLA Sturgeon and Scotland’s other party leaders have been sworn in as MSPs at the start of new Holyrood term.
The First Minister made an affirmation, followed by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar taking the oath.
Beforehand, Sturgeon said the SNP “pledge loyalty to the people of Scotland in line with the Scottish constitutional tradition of the sovereignty of the people”.
A number of MSPs will take their oath in a language other than English, including Scots, Gaelic, Urdu, Orcadian, Doric and even, in the case of Zimbabwe-born North East Green MSP Maggie Chapman, Zimbabwean Shona.
The oath will be followed by the election of the new Presiding Officer, who will take charge of proceedings in Parliament for the next five years.
No MSP has yet signalled their intent publicly to stand for the position, which requires elected members to renounce their party affiliation and act cross-party for the duration.
Parliamentary arithmetic could prevent some MSPs from putting themselves forward for the position, given the SNP are just one seat short of a majority.
If the SNP put someone forward, it would drop further away from the 65 MSPs needed to pass legislation on its own – whereas the chamber would be tied if an opposition MSP takes the role.
Friday will see the election of deputy presiding officers, who do not have to relinquish their party affiliation.
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