Panama Papers: Iceland PM Gunnlaugsson Resigns

By Countercurrents.org

06 April, 2016
Countercurrents.org

In the first instance of a prominent politician taken down by the 11.5 million documents leaked in the Panama Papers, Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson resigned on Tuesday after fully 10 percent of Iceland's population rallied in protest of his wife's secret, offshore shell company holding millions.

PM had earlier asked President to dissolve Parliament, call for new elections. Panama Papers showed PM's wife owned offshore company with big claims on Iceland's collapsed banks.

Mr Gunnlaugsson was one of 12 current and former world leaders to have his alleged hidden financial dealings.

Pressure had been mounting on Mr Gunnlaughsson, 41, to resign after leaked documents showed his wife owned an offshore company with big claims on Iceland's collapsed banks.

Following the announcement, Iceland's opposition party maintained that they still wanted to hold a snap general election.

Mr Gunnlaugsson's company, named Wintris Inc and acquired in 2007, was intended to manage his wife's inheritance from her wealthy businessman father, according to the Panama Papers.

The Prime Minister sold his 50 per cent share to his wife for a symbolic sum of $US1 at the end of 2009.

But when he was elected to Parliament for the first time in April 2009, as a member of the centre-right Progressive Party, he neglected to mention his stake in his declaration of shareholdings.