Greece's deputy foreign minister Euclid Tsakalotos tells CNN's Christiane Amanpour that Greeks should vote 'No' in Sunday's referendum, but a 'Yes' means the government "will have been defeated."
After five months of acrimonious negotiations with their European partners Greece is heading for a crunch point on Sunday with a referendum on accepting the austerity measures proposed by its creditors.
With banks closed for a fourth day on Thursday and capital controls in place, the country is now on the brink of going bust.
Yet Tsakalotos, an Oxford-educated economist who has has replaced the controversial finance minister Varoufakis as head of Greece's team of negotiators, hasn't given up yet. He believes the controversial referendum could provide a way out of the crisis.
"There's always a point of democracy," he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
"If Europe decides that they cannot live with a government that has slightly different priorities -- social priorities, has slightly different economic priorities -- from the mainstream, then that closes the door on democracy, and it opens the door for very nasty right-wing politics."
Tsakalotos said that a 'No' vote against the latest bailout program would "give us the strength to fight for a deal that will be both sustainable and a fair compromise."
"I think there would not only be no basis for a new program, but it would be very much the question whether there would be a basis for Greece in the euro zone," he said.
If that door is closed, Tsakalotos said, Greeks and Europeans would be forced to conclude that "this Europe is a Europe where you can vote for whatever you want, but you always get the same policies."
Echoing previous statements from his government, he made clear that if Greeks voted 'Yes', his government would face an uncertain future.
"I think if there's a 'Yes' vote, the arguments and the positions of the Greek government will have been defeated."
"I'm not going to say and speculate the political mechanics of it, but obviously there will have to be an implementation of the deal, but it's not a deal that this Greek government in this form would be able to pass."
Tsakalotos lashed out at the International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank, accusing them of infighting and imposing their prescription without any flexibility.
"The two giants [the IMF and Europe] have been fighting, and the Greek antelope at the bottom has to accept, on the table, not much on debt [restructuring] and very harsh reforms. That can't be right."
"And it's not just an issue that it can't be right ethically, it won't work economically."