Protesters have marched near the presidential palace in Cyprus, as questions over the bailout package for the financially crippled island linger with the resignation of the chairman of the country’s largest commercial bank. As protesters took to the streets on Tuesday, Bank of Cyprus Chairman Andreas Artemis submitted his resignation opposing plans to restructure the bank, Al Jazeera’s John Psaropoulos, reporting from Nicosia, said. The refinancing and restructuring plan of the Bank of Cyprus requires it to absorb the deposits of another financial institution called Laiki Bank, which has been shuttered. As banks remained closed nationwide for the second week, an estimated 1,500 protesters gathered in the capital Nicosia to denounce the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund creditors. The protesters, many of them students who organised the event online, were cheered on by government workers as they marched past the labour ministry. “Troika out of Cyprus,” said banners held by the angry students, in reference to the three creditors. “Hands off Cyprus,” and “Those who stole our money should go to jail and pay,” chanted the demonstrators. Cyprus secured a deal with international lenders on Monday for a $13bn bailout that helped it avert bankruptcy, but which will see large deposit-holders at its two biggest banks losing much of their savings. The bailout involves depositors in the two biggest banks paying huge levies on deposits more than $130,000. It also effectively shuts down Laiki, the island’s second-largest lender also known as Popular Bank.
