The ruling Progressive Party’s deputy leader Sigurdur Ingi Johansson, who holds the fisheries and agriculture portfolio, told reporters after a party meeting that the party planned to name him as the new leader.
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Gunnlaugsson owned an offshore company, Wintris, with his wife.
The Associated Press reports that Gunnlaugsson has said he and his wife paid all their taxes and did not break the law.
In the Panama Papers, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) noted, not without irony, that the baby-faced Gunnlaugsson was in 2004 voted Iceland’s third-sexiest man.
Even more importantly, Wintris held bonds in all three former major Icelandic banks, Glitnir, Kaupþing and Landsbanki.
Some observers describe his rejection of the prime minister’s request as highly unusual.
Fontaine says many Icelanders hope the leaks call worldwide attention to the fact that the country’s bounce back from the 2008 economic collapse has not been as smooth as many global observers assume.
Johannsson earlier Tuesday said Gunnlaugsson was stepping down as leader of the country’s coalition government.
Iceland’s president Olafur Ragnar Grimsson has not yet confirmed any changes to the leadership and the situation remained muddled as hundreds of protesters gathered outside parliament to demand Mr Gunnlaugsson’s removal. Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson: The embattled Prime Minister is facing accusations of conflict of interest because of offshore accounts. It followed the refusal by Iceland’s president to dissolve parliament and call a new election, and after thousands of Icelanders protested outside the parliament building in Reykjavik. Including not only Icelandic PM Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, but also the father of British PM David Cameron and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He said he plans to meet with the government’s coalition partner “in a few hours” to discuss the crisis caused by the massive leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm that documents widespread abuse of the tax haven system.
When Gunnlaugsson was elected to parliament, he neglected to disclose his shares in the corporation and shortly after he sold his shares (worth billions) to his wife for $1 US.
The finance minister added there was need to prepare for elections. And I think I should apologize for my performance in this interview.
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Dolan said that if the situation in Iceland is replicated, whereby a politician “has a secret stake in a company that has benefited from the decisions of his government”, then he would expect “more heads to roll”. The offshore company was used to invest millions of dollars of inherited money.
