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Icelandic PM faces no confidence vote over Panama Papers disclosures
Source: The Guardian
Icelandic PM faces no confidence vote over Panama Papers disclosures
Protests outside parliament after documents show Sigmundur
Davíð Gunnlaugsson’s wife owned offshore firm with large claim
on collapsed banks
Jon Henley in Reyjkavik
Monday 4 April 2016 20.31 BST
Iceland’s prime minister is under fierce pressure to step down after leaked documents showed his wife owned a secretive offshore company with a potentially multimillion-pound claim on the country’s collapsed banks – representing what opponents said was a major conflict of interest.
As opposition parties called a vote of no confidence for later this week and an online petition demanding Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson’s resignation garnered – in a country of 330,000 people – more than 23,000 signatures, thousands of protesters gathered outside parliament in central Reykjavik for an evening protest, chanting, banging drums, blowing whistles and waving bananas – symbolising the belief of many that they were living in a banana republic.
“He’s just lost all credibility,” said Arntho Haldersson, a financial services consultant. “Our prime minister, hiding assets in offshore accounts … After all this country has been through, how can he possibly pretend to lead Iceland’s resurrection from the financial crisis? He should go.”
“He’s lied,” said Anna Mjöll Guðmundsdóttir, a tourism researcher. “These people, they say they’ve learned the lessons from what happened to us in 2008, but they’re still just hiding our money.” Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir, a university professor, agreed: “He’s not been forthright. If people had been informed of this they might have voted differently. The size of this demonstration shows how disappointed people are.”
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Protests outside parliament after documents show Sigmundur
Davíð Gunnlaugsson’s wife owned offshore firm with large claim
on collapsed banks
Jon Henley in Reyjkavik
Monday 4 April 2016 20.31 BST
Iceland’s prime minister is under fierce pressure to step down after leaked documents showed his wife owned a secretive offshore company with a potentially multimillion-pound claim on the country’s collapsed banks – representing what opponents said was a major conflict of interest.
As opposition parties called a vote of no confidence for later this week and an online petition demanding Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson’s resignation garnered – in a country of 330,000 people – more than 23,000 signatures, thousands of protesters gathered outside parliament in central Reykjavik for an evening protest, chanting, banging drums, blowing whistles and waving bananas – symbolising the belief of many that they were living in a banana republic.
“He’s just lost all credibility,” said Arntho Haldersson, a financial services consultant. “Our prime minister, hiding assets in offshore accounts … After all this country has been through, how can he possibly pretend to lead Iceland’s resurrection from the financial crisis? He should go.”
“He’s lied,” said Anna Mjöll Guðmundsdóttir, a tourism researcher. “These people, they say they’ve learned the lessons from what happened to us in 2008, but they’re still just hiding our money.” Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir, a university professor, agreed: “He’s not been forthright. If people had been informed of this they might have voted differently. The size of this demonstration shows how disappointed people are.”
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/04/icelandic-pm-gunnlaugsson-faces-no-confidence-vote-panama-papers-wife-offshore