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But speaking after the Greens launched their general election manifesto on Thursday, Mr Harvie said his party instead wanted the power to hold constitutional referendums to be devolved to Holyrood – a position shared by the SNP.
The UK Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to hold a second independence referendum without the approval of Westminster.
Mr Harvie said he is not convinced that Westminster’s electoral system – which uses first-past-the-post rather than proportional representation to determine results – could “really” count as a mandate.
He was told that Labor could use the election as a mandate not to hold a referendum if it wins a majority of seats in Scotland – similar to the SNP’s approach.
Mr Harvie said: “I question whether the majority of seats under first come really reflect a mandate.
“If they won 50% of the votes in Scotland, you’d have to respect that, you’d have to recognize that’s the way the majority of people in Scotland, the majority of people choose to cast their vote.
“I don’t think that is likely to happen, but if any political party got that level of 50% and more support, other parties would have to respect that.
“But what I don’t think any political party can claim a mandate for is the right of the UK Parliament to decide the timing of a future decision on Scottish independence because only 10% of UK Parliament MPs are with any mandate in all coming from Scotland.
“Scottish voters must be able to decide that decision for themselves, not that decision being made in Whitehall for them.”
However, he agreed with Mr Swinney that the Scottish Parliament had already secured a mandate in 2021 when pro-independence parties won a majority of seats.
Mr Harvie also said he was “very confident” that support for independence will grow beyond current levels if there is a “clear period of campaigning”.
In opinion polls, support for independence has varied above and below the 50% mark.
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