Cyprus parliament demands resignation of president

The Cyprus parliament on Friday demanded the resignation of President Demetris Christofias over a deadly explosion of confiscated Iranian military explosives and munitions in July. Opposition parties forced through parliament a resolution by a majority of 33 votes to 18, calling Christofias to assume institutional and personal responsibilities attributed to him by an inquiry commission that investigated the circumstances of the explosion. The resolution is non-binding on the president under the presidential system of Cyprus, but it will further compound his political isolation, leaving only his left-wing AKEL party to rely upon for support. Speaker after speaker from opposition parties blasted Christofias during a seven-hour debate. They accused him of going back on his pledge to respect any findings of the inquiry commission he had appointed to investigate the issue and lay the blame on those responsible. The inquiry commission said Christofias was to blame for the blast because of his failure to direct his ministers to take measures for the safe keeping of the explosives. The explosives were confiscated in February 2009 from a Russian-owned ship sailing from Iran to Syria in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The July 11 explosion of 500 tons of powder stored in a naval base killed 13 people and wrecked the island's main power station, pushing economic growth down to nil. Christofias has already dismissed demands for his resignation, saying that political responsibility had already been undertaken by his resigned foreign and defense ministers.