By voting for a new memorandum, the government and the majority of Syriza’s parliamentary caucus have not just said farewell to left politics but to politics altogether. By making this choice, they have not only disposed of Syriza’s program, or the commitments the government made to the Greek people.

They have trampled on the “no” vote of the Greek people, who just two weeks ago strongly rejected the Juncker austerity package, which was a much milder version of austerity than the one imposed by the shameful agreement of July 12. They have additionally ignored the opposition of the majority of their own party’s central committee, the only collective body elected by the party congress and accountable to its members’ collective will.

However, there’s something more than the aforementioned aspects and that at the same time transcends them: in going down this road, the government and its parliamentary majority have negated the very idea of politics, which is based on the idea of taking the responsibility of a choice, i.e. sticking by a political decision.