Greek crisis: Yanis Varoufakis will resign if Greek people vote Yes in referendum
The Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has said he will resign if the Greek people vote “yes” in Sunday’s referendum.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, when asked if he would remain as finance minister on Monday in the event of a yes vote, he simply replied:
I will not.
But Varoufakis was confident the Greek people will vote “no” and not accept creditors’ demands. If he is wrong, he says the left-wing Syriza-led government will sign the agreement that was put to it last weekend.
We are unreconstructed democrats. We are going to take this to the Greek people and if the Greek people say yes, we will do whatever it takes to ensure it's signed.
While Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has attempted to reignite negotiations ahead of the referendum, European leaders have reiterated that they will not come back to the negotiating table until after the result.
Read more: Germany won't discuss Greek bailout deal until after Greek referendum
Leaders across Europe have also said the referendum is effectively a vote on Greece’s membership of the Eurozone. Varoufakis, however, has said a deal can still be reached with creditors even if the result is negative.
The Greek government will “immediately start negotiations” he said, and creditors will be prepared to negotiate with him on a third bailout programme: “Believe you me there will be an agreement”.
Greece “really desperately wants to stay in the euro”, Varoufakis added.