The Scottish Greens have launched a petition after claiming the BBC Trust;s draft guidance for Holyrood's May election 'relegated' them below Scotland's other parties.
The BBC Trust's draft guidance states that the larger parties in Scotland are the SNP, Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, with the Greens listed as a smaller party.
The document said: "The only other party currently represented in the Scottish Parliament is the Scottish Green Party. The audience will expect us to report their campaign more substantively than those of other smaller parties who are not represented.
"Where the larger parties are featureing regularly, the Greens should have a minimum of one appearance a week on each appropriate programme strand."
However, the Scottish Greens said the decision ignored the party's history and the radical changes in Scotland's political landscape.
The party has now asked voters to sign a petition to show the BBC Trust the draft guidance does not meet their needs.
Support our campaign for balanced coverage from the BBC: https://t.co/lDt50uphIh pic.twitter.com/wAL8XtV12m
— Scottish Greens (@scotgp) January 8, 2016
In a statement on the petition, the Greens said: "The proposals relegate the Greens to a tier below the other parties, ignoring not just our history of representation since the parliament’s creation but also the radical changes in Scotland’s political landscape since the referendum.
"The average Green vote share across the last fifty polls is 8%, clearly ahead of the Liberal Democrats and heading towards a significant increase in the number of Green MSPs. In the final poll of 2015 we were projected to win 9 seats to the Lib Dems’ 3.
"Since the referendum Patrick Harvie has been consistently rated Scotland’s most popular opposition politician and our membership has increased dramatically to nine thousand.
"Help us show the BBC that this draft guidance does not meet the needs or expectations of voters in Scotland. Sign and share the petition today."
The consultation into the BBC Trust's draft guidance closes on Friday, January 15.
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