Scotland may ditch the monarchy within five years of independence, the SNP frontrunner has said.
Humza Yousaf also said Scotland could replace King Charles III with an elected head of state.
Voting opened yesterday to see who would succeed Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scotland's first minister.
Mr Yousaf is running against Kate Forbes and Ash Regan as SNP members will be casting their ballots until March 27.
In his latest interview, Mr Yousaf discussed how he believes regional assemblies should start talking about "what kind of Scotland we want to see".
The Scottish Health Secretary told The National that for him, it does not include the monarchy and that pivoting away from the Royal Family towards an elected head of state should happen within five years of independence.
He said: "Let's also talk about things like the monarchy. I don't know why we should be shy about that, I don't think we should be. I've been very clear, I'm a republican. That's never been anything I've hidden."
He added that he would be "keen" to move to a new Scottish currency as "quickly as possible".
He added: "But let's absolutely within the first five years consider whether or not we should move away from having a monarchy into an elected head of state."
He said he considers himself a "citizen, not a subject".
Mr Yousaf is the frontrunner in the SNP election after former frontrunner Ms Forbes triggered a major row over her views on gay marriage.
Ms Forbes sparked a furore only hours after announcing her candidacy by telling an interviewer that her conscience wouldn't allow her to vote in favour of same-sex marriage.
Ms Forbes told The Scotsman: "I would have voted, as a matter of conscience, along the lines of mainstream teaching in most major religions that marriage is between a man and a woman.
"But I would have respected and defended the democratic choice that was made.
"It is legal right now and I am a servant of democracy, I am not a dictator."
Last month, Ms Regan hit out at the current leadership of the SNP, saying Peter Murrell's ultimate control over the contest to replace his wife Ms Sturgeon is a "conflict of interest", and adding that the party has "lost our way" in recent years.
"I think everyone, the kids in the playground can see that there have been some issues in the SNP of late," she said.
"I think I'm the only candidate on the slate that's credible on some of the top issues that have been a problem for the SNP recently, that can draw a line under this so that we can all move forward together because we need to do that for the betterment of the country."
