The battle to run Angus Council looks set to go right to the wire following further weekend talks.
The SNP group remain hopeful of keeping control and held discussions with Liberal Democrat councillors Ben Lawrie and Richard Moore yesterday.
The Lib Dems went into the meeting with the SNP with a ‘shopping list’ of demands and were looking for commitments on certain issues before entering any sort of agreement.
There are 28 councillors in Angus with the SNP and Independents each holding nine seats, the Conservatives with eight posts and the Lib Dems with two positions.
The SNP believe there is still a way it can reach the required numbers with the additional help of some Independent councillors.
The SNP’s Forfar councillor Lynne Devine and Montrose councillor Bill Duff are leading the negotiations on behalf of their group.
Mr Duff said the preliminary talks were “inconclusive”.
“We listened to their ambitions and promised a response,” he said.
“Priority will be electing a provost on Tuesday with potentially an adjournment of the statutory meeting after the civic head is elected.”
The provost role is the only thing that must be decided tomorrow and then the meeting could technically be adjourned.
That would give all parties more time to reach the required numbers to form an administration although the Lib Dems are “not convinced” the numbers stack up for the SNP to keep control of Angus.
Lib Dem Ben Lawrie said: “We’re sceptical on how feasible an administration with the SNP is for three main reasons.
“Our demands focus heavily on recycling services and contradict the record of the last administration who initiated this attack on recycling we’re looking to reverse.
“The SNP don’t seem to have the same level of support from Independent councillors that the Conservatives do and we’re not convinced the numbers add up for an SNP administration.
“During the campaign and particularly now, the strong feeling I’ve been getting from the electorate is that they don’t want another SNP administration and they feel it’s time for change.
“In saying that, we want to give each party a fair hearing and see how much of our policies we can achieve for Angus.
“We’re our own party with our own values and ideology and neither party can take our support for granted.”
Mr Lawrie said he had “no clue” when the administration will actually be formed.
The Conservatives and some Independents held several meetings last week in a bid to form an alliance.
They have agreed names for some of the positions, namely Brechin and Edzell councillor Bob Myles for leader and Kirriemuir and Dean member Ronnie Proctor for provost.
