Alex Salmond claimed his candidates will say nothing negative in the Holyrood election campaign days after one of them branded Nicola Sturgeon a cow.
The former SNP leader and First Minister was promoting the full list of 32 members now standing across the electoral regions of Scotland.
Mr Salmond, speaking in a BBC Radio 4 interview, was also asked if he had reflected on his past behaviour towards women.
And he claimed a so-called super-majority for independence could be used to look at legal action and promote “peaceful demonstration”.
Mr Salmond is standing on the North East regional ballot for a seat in parliament on May 6, when he hopes to work with Ms Sturgeon’s SNP in achieving a second referendum.
But their relationship was effectively destroyed by harassment complaints, a “catastrophic” inquiry by the Scottish Government and personal insults.
‘No negativity’
“Everybody in politics has to take criticism from time to time,” Mr Salmond said.
“I’m talking about the cause of advancing Scotland’s case for independence.
“All I can tell you is, we’ve got five weeks of this election campaign. You won’t find a word of negativity coming off the lips of any Alba candidate as we progress that case for independence.”
The fledgling party has been rocked by controversy from the start and some candidates have been challenged over previous comments made online.
Boxer Alex Arthur, standing in Lothian, apologised for offensive remarks about Romanian “beggars” in Edinburgh. Candidate Jim Walker branded Nicola Sturgeon a “cow” in a social media post, since deleted, on March 28.
Former SNP justice secretary Kenny MacAskill has previously been openly hostile to Ms Sturgeon’s leadership. He refuses to stand down as MP in his East Lothian constituency, saying he will carry on in both roles if elected to Holyrood.
Mr Salmond said Dr Walker had apologised, adding: “That was a Twitter debate before he became a candidate.”
The former First Minister, during the 10-minute interview, was also asked to reflect on his past behaviour towards women, responding that he had been cleared of criminal charges.
He claimed “fair minded” people would accept the verdict of a jury. He also referred to the date – April fools’ day – in claiming he’d been assured the Alba party would be fairly covered by the BBC.
‘Peaceful demonstration’
On the campaign for independence, Mr Salmond said Alba could help the SNP achieve their goal. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has so far ruled out any legal grounding from the UK Government for a second referendum.
Asked to explain what Alba would do in parliament, Mr Salmond said: “There’s a whole range of actions.
“You can look at how you mobilise the legitimacy that comes from a parliamentary majority to look at firstly referendums and plebiscites that can be held by the Scottish Parliament.
“You can look at international opinion, you can look at legal action in the Scottish courts, you can look at international legal action, you can look at mobilising peaceful demonstrations in Scotland.”
The party announced its full list of candidates on March 31. They include former Ochil and South Perthshire MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh in the Central Scotland region. She is a close ally of Mr Salmond and worked with him on his Russia Today talk show.
Also standing is Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP Neale Hanvey, who switched party affiliation to Alba, while a number of other SNP representatives including north-east councillors have also joined.