Iceland’s Prime Minister has become the first politician to step down over the Panama Papers leak. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson has today resigned following allegations his family invested millions of pounds in an offshore firm.
The Icelandic PM’s position had looked increasingly untenable since the story emerged yesterday. After the revelations in the Panama Papers, crowds surrounded the Parliament in Reykjavik calling for Gunnlaugsson – who has been the country’s leader since 2013 – to step down. And in a country which is particularly sensitive to allegations of financial shadiness following the 2008 financial crash, it seemed obvious that this was going to go only one way.
The writing was clearly on the wall for Gunnlaugsson as soon as he was filmed walking out of an interview on Sunday evening (above). In the footage, Gunnlaugsson is asked about a firm caught up in the Panama Papers leak called Wintris. The Icelandic PM is then filmed taking off his microphone before saying: ‘What are you trying to make up here?’
It’s clear from the extraordinary footage – which has since spread around the world – that Gunnlaugsson was riled.
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