ALEX Salmond announced he will lead the new Alba Party into the Scottish Parliament election at a virtual event this afternoon – but the stream was plagued by technical issues.

The event started with a speech from the former SNP leader on how he hopes the new party, which will stand on the list vote, will deliver a “supermajority” for independence.

This was followed by contributions from fellow candidates, including Chris McEleny, an SNP councillor in Inverclyde.

The stream then switched to a campaign video, which stopped airing halfway through and started showing Salmond looking into the camera silently.

Afterwards, the former First Minister took questions from the media. For the first 20 minutes or so no journalist could be heard, leading to long periods of silence.

The issues were later fixed, but were widely discussed on social media.

READ MORE: Viewers across Scotland react to launch of Alex Salmond's Alba Party

During the statement, Salmond explained his plans for the weeks ahead.

“Over the next six weeks we will promote new ideas about taking Scotland forward, giving primacy to economic recovery from the pandemic and the achievement of independence for our country,” he said.

READ MORE: Alex Salmond to lead new Alba Party into Scottish Parliament election

“We expect to field a minimum of four candidates in each regional list and we’re hoping to elect Alba MSPs from every area of Scotland.”

Salmond said the aim of the party is to work towards a “successful, socially just, environmentally responsible, independent country”.

He said: “Today, Alba is hoisting a flag in the wind, planting our Saltire on a hill.

“In the next few weeks, we’ll see how many will rally to our standard.”

The former SNP leader told potential supporters to vote for his old party in constituency seats or “an independence” party.

READ MORE: Joanna Cherry confirms she will not be joining Alex Salmond's Alba Party