NICOSIA, Cyprus – URGENT: Cypriot lawmakers have rejected a critical draft bill that would have seized part of people's bank deposits in order to qualify for a vital international bailout.
The bill, which had been amended Tuesday morning to shield small deposit holders from the deposit tax, was rejected with 36 votes against, 19 abstentions and zero votes in favor. One deputy was absent.
Hundreds of protesters outside Parliament cheered in jubilation and sang the national anthem when they heard the bill had not passed.
Cyprus will now have to come up with an alternative plan to raise the money.
If it doesn't, it won't qualify for external rescue loans, the country's banks face collapse and the country could go bankrupt.
In a heated debate, lawmakers spoke of "raw blackmail" from Europe in forcing Cyprus into the deal, while hundreds of protesters gathered outside Parliament chanting anti-government slogans.
Banks on the island nation will stay shut until Thursday in an effort to prevent a bank run.
Although Cyprus is the smallest eurozone country to be bailed out, the details of the plan sent shockwaves through the single currency area as it was the first time savers' banks accounts have been directly targeted. Other bailed out countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal have raised funds by imposing new taxes.
Proponents of the deposit seizure argue that this way gets foreigners who have taken advantage of Cyprus's low-tax regime to share the cost of the bailout of the banks, which have been hit hard by their over-exposure to bad Greek debt.
About a third of all deposits in Cypriot banks are believed to be held by Russians.
Finance Minister Michalis Sarris was flying to Moscow Tuesday afternoon to meet with his Russian counterpart.
Andreas Charalambous, a senior official at the ministry, said the aim is to extend repayment of a euro2.5 billion loan Russia granted Cyprus in late 2011 when the country could no longer borrow from international markets.
He said Cyprus was also looking for "potential interest for further investment in the country."
Opponents say a blanket charge on people's bank accounts will hurt ordinary Cypriots more, and could shake the confidence of all in the country's banking sector. And by going after deposits, European policymakers have set a precedent that could be repeated in the future. The worry of bank runs across Europe lies at the heart of market concerns.
Charalambous said Cypriot authorities believe depositors should be protected, but that a wholesale exemption for those below euro100,000 would mean a "disproportionate" burden on large savers, and a "very detrimental" knock-on effect on economic growth.
"Because of the size of the estimated (bailout) needs, the burden on those above euro100,000 would be such that it would again impact small people because it would destroy the ability of the country to attract foreign investment," Charalambous said.
In a Monday night teleconference, eurozone finance ministers concluded that small depositors should not be hit as hard as others. They said Cyprus should stagger the seizures more, but insisted that the overall take should stay the same.
President Nicos Anastasiades, who was elected less than a month ago, told German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday night that "the possibility of reducing the requirements from self-raised funds is being explored," a Cypriot government spokesman said.
The two leaders were expected to speak again on Tuesday, he added.
Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund which is participating in Cyprus's bailout, said in Frankfurt that the IMF was "extremely supportive of the Cypriot authorities' intentions to introduce more progressive rates in the one-off tax."
