International

Iceland PM steps down over Panama Papers revelation

Published

8 years ago

April 5, 2016

Iceland PM steps down over Panama Papers revelation

Iceland PM, Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, has throw in the towel following calls for his resignation after the Panama Papers scandal which named him among the world’s elite with questionable offshore accounts.

Sigmundur decided to step down after massive protests with thousands gathered outside the country’s parliament asking for him to resign.

Confirming his resignation, Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, the Agriculture Minister who will now replace Sigmundur in the interim revealed to Icelandic broadcaster RUV that the PM has resigned his post as the head of the country’s coalition government.

Read also: Global shock as Panama Papers expose elites’ stash

Gunnlaugsson is the first major scalp from a leak of more than 11 million documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm, showing tax-avoidance arrangements of the rich and famous around the world.

“He [Gunnlaugsson] is the first casualty of the Panama Papers,” said Al Jazeera’s Laurence Lee, reporting from Reykjavik. “Iceland is clearly a functioning democracy. People have said they’re not prepared to put up with it. As soon as it [the leak] started to come out on Sunday, people took to the streets.”

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