Outspoken economist and main opposition Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) candidate Yanis Varoufakis’ statements that he would rather face “death” than failure to cut a Greek deal with Greece’s international creditors raised eyebrows on Tuesday. Following Mr. Varoufakis example, another SYRIZA lawymaker Theodosis Pelegrinis, actor and rector of the National and Kapodistrian University, told private MEGA TV on Wednesday that it would be “death” for Greece if a deal wasn’t struck as the country has been crippled and cannot pay off its debt.

Mr. Varoufakis’ interview with French newspaper, La Tribune, refered to “senseless measures” being accepted by previous governments that fuelled a “vicious cycle of indignity that causes resentment, fear and frustration.” He rejected the European Central Bank’s (ECB) plans for “quantitative easing” and was critical of European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker’s package that he described as “stupid”.

He said that “death seems like a better option when compared to not wrapping up a deal… the real deficit in Greece is one of dignity.”Mr. Varoufakis called on Greeks to find their “dignity” again and the spirit of October 28, 1940, when Greeks said “No” to an ultimatum by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini hearalding the start of World War II.

Asked by the journalist of La Tribune if by “death” he meant a Grexit, Mr. Varoufakis said that the word was used allegorically and, like all allegories, would lose its meaning the more it was explained.

Continuing with the allegories, he told La Tribune that conservative New Democracy (ND) Prime Minister had operated on Greece using a butcher’s knife. “We want to use a laser so that we won’t kill the patient. But of course we want reforms,” he added, noting that SYRIZA wants to put an end to thieving at the expense of Greece.