The DUP will become "Protocol slaves" if the party agrees to restore Stormont following the Windsor Framework deal, TUV leader Jim Allister has said.
Mr Allister said he believes there are "differing tensions" within the DUP over whether to accept the UK and European Union's new arrangements for post-Brexit trade across the Irish Sea.
He said while some recognise the "very definite impact" on Northern Ireland's place within the Union, for others "position is more important than principle".
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The TUV leader said he suspects a DUP panel set up to assess the Windsor Framework is designed to give a "soft landing" to "compliance" with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
In an interview with Belfast Live ahead of TUV's annual conference this weekend, he said reviving Stormont to implement trade barriers under the Protocol is "not an option, as far as I'm concerned".
Asked if the DUP was stalling on deciding whether to end its block on power-sharing until after May's council elections, Mr Allister said: "I can tell you this: No-one is wondering where TUV will stand the morning after the council elections.
"If people are wondering where the DUP will stand the morning after the council elections then that is a serious issue that every voter should consider if they are concerned about the Protocol issue, before they endorse such an ambivalent approach."
Mr Allister argued that "to return to Stormont power-sharing is to become Protocol slaves", saying that a recent court ruling confirmed an Executive would be "obligated" to implement the "Irish Sea border".
"Now that is not something that any unionist with any credibility can do. So returning to Stormont to be a Protocol slave is not an option, as far as I'm concerned," he added.
Mr Allister said he was unsure if there was a "split" in the DUP but added: "I do discern that there is more enthusiasm from some than others to make their peace with the Protocol."
He questioned the purpose of DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's panel set up to gauge unionist opinion on the Windsor Framework.
Mr Allister said: "I don't understand how one would need a panel to tell you that a customs code that declares GB a foreign country, that puts you under foreign law, that annexes you into the EU, is something that you need to consider whether you should accept it or not.
"I suspect that that panel is in place to give as soft a landing as would be possible to Protocol compliance. But I'm not sure that the wider unionist community is in a mood to accept that."
Mr Allister dismissed suggestions from some opinion polls that TUV support has waned since last year's Assembly election.
He said unionist voters recognise that "if there is a wobble with some other unionists, then they need to sustain that strength injection by voting TUV again".
Mr Allister brushed off how TUV Assembly election candidate Jordan Doran was recently co-opted as a DUP councillor in North Belfast, describing him as a "practitioner of position before principle".
He criticised media attention on TUV council election candidate Anne Smyth being the mother of BBC Northern Ireland interim director Adam Smyth, asking: "So what?"
Mr Allister insisted Mrs Smyth running for election in the Titanic area of East Belfast did not compromise BBC impartiality.
"Absolutely not. You know, this office has had more rows with the BBC and its director than probably most. So, you know, I don't think there's any issue there," he said.
Mr Allister also questioned the DUP's decision to field a council election candidate in his North Antrim constituency who has faced criticism for past social media posts.
Tyler Hoey, who is standing for the DUP in the Bannside area of Ballymena, had liked a tweet glorifying the gunmen involved in the UDA's killing of eight people in Greysteel, Co Derry, in 1993.
Mr Hoey also made references to the UDA in posts, and appeared to have attempted to make a joke about the death of 39 immigrants in a lorry in 2019.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson criticised the social media posts as "indefensible" but said he believed Mr Hoey was entitled to a second chance.
Mr Allister said described the social media posts as "quite appalling".
He added: "They're not just one-off slips where someone without reflecting says something. There's a series here from this young man of quite unacceptable embracing of concepts and causes, which, to my mind, would make him unsuitable for seeking public office, but that's a matter not for me, but for the DUP. He's their candidate."
Mr Allister said it was "disappointing" to lose from TUV a councillor who came close to becoming the party's second ever MLA.
Ards and North Down councillor Stephen Cooper quit the party ahead of the conclusion of an internal probe into an allegation of "harassment" by a female member.
Mr Cooper, who came close to being elected as a Strangford MLA last year, said he was "disappointed" the party did not "back" him.
Mr Allister said Mr Cooper's resignation was "unsolicited" and the party's internal investigation was not concluded as a result.
Asked if he was disappointed to lose someone who was on the verge of becoming an MLA, the TUV leader said: "Yes, of course, to lose someone who came so close is disappointing.
"But, you know, the party is bigger than any individual. So onwards and upwards."
Mr Allister said TUV has been the "voice of challenge" in local government over recent years.
He said they were "focused on fighting winnable seats", identifying Strangford, East Antrim and Belfast as among potential "growth areas" for the party.
Mr Allister added: "I think there's no council area where we're not going to be fighting hard to get a foothold in, and where we've had councillors - we've had five councillors in Mid and East Antrim - we really have made an impact.
"We have been the voice of challenge within that dysfunctional council where all sorts of things have been going on and it's been TUV that's been calling out most of those issues.
"So I think just as in Stormont, we've been a voice of challenge, so in council we would be a voice of challenge and I think people probably recognise that's increasingly necessary."
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