Cyprus lawmakers reject bill to tap bank deposits to fund bailout

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

NICOSIA, CYPRUS – Cypriot lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a critical draft bill that would have seized part of people's bank deposits in order to qualify for a vital international bailout, with not a single vote in favor.

The rejection leaves Cyprus's bailout in question. Without external funds, the country's banks face collapse and the government could go bankrupt. Nicosia will now have to come up with an alternative plan to raise the money: the government could try to offer a compromise bill that would be more palatable to lawmakers.

The bill, which had been amended Tuesday morning to shield small deposit holders from the deposit tax, was rejected with 36 votes against and 19 abstentions. One deputy was absent.

"No to new colonial bonds, no to subjugation, no to national dishonor and raw blackmail," said house speaker Yiannakis Omirou during the debate before the vote.

After the vote failed, he said political leaders will have a meeting with the president on Wednesday to discuss the next steps.

Nicholas Papadopoulos, the chairman of the parliamentary finance committee, said banks would remain closed "for as long as we need to conclude an agreement" but stressed this would be "in the next few days." Banks had been ordered to remain shut until Thursday while the bill was debated and amended, to prevent a bank run.

Papadopoulos said Cyprus wanted wants a renegotiation of its bailout deal.

But the idea of seizing savings was something Cyprus rejected. "It has not been (implemented) in any other country in Europe and we don't wish to be the experiment of Europe."

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