IN WHAT has been the biggest protest yet, bankers demonstrated in their thousands yesterday as talks continued to avert Cyprus’ financial meltdown and resolve the banking crisis.
Protesters gathered in the afternoon outside the offices of banking union ETYK, which had said that it had become “obvious” that the banking system and the economy was being driven to destruction.
On the previous night, parliament approved bills on the resolution of banks and appeared ready to tax big savers, in a dramatic turnaround following Tuesday’s overwhelming rejection of a bank levy on all deposits agreed with the troika of lenders last week.
As negotiations and talks continued throughout yesterday, protesters marched from ETYK’s offices to the presidential palace, later moving on to the finance ministry and reaching the (empty) House of Representatives by evening.
Amid the sea of people, ETYK members expressed anxiety over the resolution of Popular Bank, their fears that the Bank of Cyprus would also be restructured and the uncertainty over their provident or pension funds.
There were points when anger overwhelmed individuals.
An ETYK member, wearing a bright orange traffic vest, was chanting slogans over a megaphone outside the presidential palace for protesters to copy when he suddenly faltered and shouted simply: “I’ve had enough.”
It was not the only time that same refrain was heard during the protest.
Chanting in unison, protesters shouted “hands off provident funds,” and “provident funds belong to our children”.
“You’ve heard the slogans. This is how people feel,” a 40-year-old Bank of Cyprus employee said. “This is unfairness in all its glory,” he said although he conceded that with Cyprus now facing an overhaul of the system, “perhaps a deposits haircut would have been better”. He was referring to the bank levy parliament rejected on Tuesday.
Asked what it was they wanted, people said that at the least they wanted their jobs saved and their provident funds safeguarded.
Nicos, a 38-year-old Popular Bank employee who had also protested outside parliament on Friday said that the issue was “about saving Cyprus” adding that the “state (would) collapse” if the banks were allowed to fall. A 45-year-old woman had said that she was not convinced that “sacrificing” Popular Bank would protect the Bank of Cyprus.
Protesters yesterday said they did not know what the future held for either bank, although some called for a deposits haircut across all banks. “Everyone should contribute,” one woman said.
As the time went on, people started discussing a possible strike even if the banks do reopen on Tuesday as planned. By the time the protest reached the presidential palace the one word protesters shouted in earnest was “strike”. Picking up a megaphone, a man said to general applause they would be there when parliament voted any further bills and would not go back to work if their jobs would be endangered.
A graffiti scribbled in red on the building adjacent to parliament read, “they invest, they lose, they lend out (and) you pay”. Another one talked of “robbers in a suit”.
ETYK said that there were many empty promises heard by many “and we do not want to hear any more”.
“We will not sit idle. We are reacting as of today,” ETYK said in an announcement.
Talking of the times to come, a 35-year-old man said he was “watching a horror film”.
A bank worker outside the finance ministry