Panama Papers: Thousands call for Iceland Prime Minister's resignation

Mark Chandler5 April 2016

Thousands of people gathered in front of the Icelandic Parliament today calling for the Prime Minister to resign after his wife was named in the leaked Panama Papers.

Earlier today, Iceland’s opposition filed a motion of no confidence in Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson after the documents showed his wife owned an offshore company called Wintris with big claims on the country's collapsed banks.

The Panama Papers, 11.5 million files leaked from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, were published by media outlets around the world over the weekend and ramped up pressure on the Icelandic Prime Minister.

Protest: People gather on Austurvollur Square in front of the Icelandic Parliament in Reykjavic, Iceland
EPA

Opponents allege a conflict of interest and say he should have been open about the overseas assets and the company.

An estimated 10,000 people gathered outside parliament to demand his and his government's resignation, beating drums and sounding horns.

Birgitta Jonsdottir, the head of the opposition Pirate Party, said: "What would be the most natural and the right thing to do is that (he) resign as prime minister.

“There is a great and strong demand for that in society and he has totally lost all his trust and believability."

An online petition for the prime minister's resignation had roughly 27,000 signatures this evening.

Asked on Sweden’s SVT station about the company, Mr Gunnlaugsson walked out of the interview, saying: "What are you trying to make up here? This is totally inappropriate."

He told Reuters news agency: "I certainly won't (resign) because what we've seen is the fact that, well, my wife has always paid her taxes.

“We've also seen that she has avoided any conflict of interest by investing in Icelandic companies at the same time that I'm in politics.

"And finally, we've seen that I've been willing to put the interests of the people of Iceland first even when it's at a disadvantage to my own family."

Additional reporting by Reuters.

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