The offshore scandal that erupted after the publication of “the Panama document”, brought the first “fruits”. Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson leaving his post (today he will officially announce it), and in the country will be held early parliamentary elections. According to the newspaper the Irish times, the acting head of the government appointed Ingi Jóhannsson.
The government of Iceland decided to hold early parliamentary elections in the autumn, but the opposition intends to speed up this process, put to the vote the question of confidence to the Cabinet of Ministers, to achieve dissolution of Parliament and polling in the coming months.
The newspaper notes that while it remains unclear what exactly caused the changes of government, independent decision of Gunnlaugsson powers of the head of the government Jóhannsson indefinitely or mass protest actions which participants demanded his resignation.
According to opinion polls, the current coalition government of Iceland has lost the support of voters. The opposition Pirate party would have received up to 43 percent of the vote if elections were held today. And this despite the fact that now the representatives of this political force is just 3 seats in the 63-seat Parliament.
According to the publication of the International consortium of journalistic investigations “the Panama document” owned by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, many representatives of political and business elite from all over the world hide their income in offshore zones. Among them was Gunnlaugsson. It is noted that together with his wife since 2007, he owned an offshore company Wintris, but did not disclose this to the Parliament in 2009, when he took the post of Prime Minister. Gunnlaugsson believes that the law is not violated. As his share, he sold it to his wife, and she declared their assets and paid their taxes.
However, it will not accuse of concealment of incomes, and the fact that it did not advertise its financial position. The company’s assets are estimated at 500 million kronor, they are bonds of Icelandic banks. And this despite the fact that the country has stringent measures of currency regulation and restrictions on the import and export of capital. In fact, the company Wintris is one of the creditors of Iceland.
