Nicola Sturgeon's prediction that Brexit would trigger another independence referendum "doesn't stand up to analysis" and the SNP leadership are "incapable" of scrutinising the European Union, according to a former deputy leader of the party.
Jim Sillars said Ms Sturgeon's plan to take Scotland out of the UK but remain in the EU is "a contradiction", and insisted Scotland would be "rebuffed" by Europe anyway.
He said the SNP "have never submitted any treaty of the EU to any critical appraisal since 1992" - the year he left Alex Salmond's SNP leadership team.
Read more: Jim Sillars hopes SNP members will start backing Brexit
Mr Sillars accused Mr Salmond, now the SNP's foreign affairs spokesman, of offering a "paean of praise" to "an undemocratic organisation run by an unelected elite".
He said he remains committed to the SNP as he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with former Labour trade minister Nigel Griffiths, Scottish co-ordinator of the Labour Leave campaign, at a press conference in Edinburgh.
The former SNP deputy leader said: "The statement that Nicola has made, that if Scotland votes to Remain and the rest vote to Leave can trigger a referendum, doesn't stand up to analysis.
"That could only be the case if in the recent manifesto she had asked for a specific mandate if that happened, and she didn't."
He added: "The SNP don't seem to be able to answer the point made by Neil Findlay to Fiona Hyslop in last Thursday's debate when he asked Fiona the question that many people are actually asking me.
"Isn't it a contradiction to want to be independent of England in a country of 60 million people where we have 9% representation in a sovereign parliament, to then want to be part of a larger union of 28 member states where our vote in the European Parliament is 1% and we would have very little influence?"
Read more: Jim Sillars accuses SNP of 'soft-selling' independence
He continued: "The SNP seems incapable of analysing what is actually happening inside the EU.
"If they made an application to join the EU as an independent state, they would find themselves rebuffed next time as they were rebuffed in 2014.
"So, the SNP seems to have had some sort of love affair with the EU and they are so entranced by it that they are incapable of looking at it and seeing it for what it is - an undemocratic organisation run by an unelected elite."
He went on: "The problem with the SNP and the leadership is that they have never submitted any treaty of the EU to any critical appraisal since 1992.
"Alex Salmond made a speech about a fortnight ago to a very prestigious organisation in Brussels and it was a paean of praise to the EU.
"Nothing about TTIP, nothing about Spain, Portugal or Greece."
Mr Sillars said he will remain a member of the SNP despite his frequently dissenting views, which also saw him back fledgling nationalist party Rise at the Scottish election.
"I think it is healthy for any political party if the voices of dissent are heard against the positions of the leadership," he said.
"I see no reason for me to leave the SNP whatsoever."
SNP In Europe campaign director Humza Yousaf said: "The Leave campaign continue to miss the fundamental point - each of the EU's 28 Member States are independent nations who have chosen to work together for the common good.
"Independence and interdependence go hand in hand in the 21st century - something underlined by the fact that many of the EU's current members have only become independent in recent decades, and several of them are smaller than Scotland.
"While we recognise that the EU is not perfect, and have set out a number of proposals for reform, we believe that the benefits of the EU are significant - that is why we are campaigning positively for Scotland, and the rest of the UK, to remain in the EU.
"However, if Scotland were to be taken out of Europe against our will it is likely that this would lead to increased support for a second referendum."
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