The Cypriot parliament has failed to adopt a controversial bill to sell off state utilities mandated by a bailout from international lenders, potentially endangering the next tranche of a 10-billion-euro loan.
As hundreds of protesters gathered outside parliament on Thursday, the vote was split evenly, with 25 in favour and 25 against, and five abstentions. The bill required a simply majority to pass.
Opposition parties opposed the bill and ruling right-wing Disy party had hoped its former coalition partner, centre-right Diko, would join it in backing the measure.
Together they would have had a slim majority.
But when it came to the wire, Diko's five MPs abstained after the government rejected some of the amendments the party tried to push through.
Government spokesman Christos Stylianides warned before the vote that if the bill were not approved, Cyprus risked missing out on its next instalment of bailout money and may not be able to pay salaries and pensions.
State television speculated that a re-vote could be possible in the coming days or that President Nicos Anastasiades may be urged to renegotiate the privatisation deal with the so-called troika.
Around 200 police in riot gear were lined up outside the parliament building in Nicosia, while protesters were kept at a distance and barricades put up.
The vote and protest come during a week of strike action by utility workers at the island's ports, by the electricity authority and Cyprus telecoms.
