In a press release sent to international media outlets the spokesman of Iceland’s Prime Minister claims the PM did NOT resign yesterday. Instead the Prime Minister only asked the Party’s vice chairman to “take over the office of Prime Minister for an unspecified amount of time.” Political observers have described this latest course of events as “farcical” and a game of semantics. Richard Milne, Financial Times' Nordic correspondant was first to publish the full text of the press release.
Here's the full email from Iceland's government PR claiming prime minister did not in fact resign pic.twitter.com/4bap04OZBY
— Richard Milne (@rmilneNordic) April 5, 2016
An incomprehensible press release detailing the PM’s many achievements
Yesterday the embattled Prime Minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, announced he was stepping down in an effort to save the continued life of the coalition. The news of his resignation made world headlines. The Prime Minister had always denied having broken any laws or done anything wrong, but yesterday it had become clear to political observers in Iceland that he was completely isolated politically, and that the only way to salvage the coalition government of the centre-right Progressive Party, which Sigmundur Davíð leads, and the conservative Independence Party, led by minister of Finance, Bjarni Benediktsson, was for Sigmundur to step down.
Foreign and Icelandic observers also interpreted the course of events as Sigmundur having bowed to public pressure he shoulder responsibility of having utilized a off-shore company in a notorious tax-haven, and of not having disclosed this to the public. Nothing in either his political statements yesterday or those of his political allies indicated he had done anything other than resign from office. The press release sent to international media by his spokesman yesterday therefore came as a shock to all observers.
The statement details at great length the achievements of Sigmundur Davíð in office and stresses that the Prime Minister was only stepping aside “temporarily.”
Farcical semantics
Jóhannes Þór Skúlason, one of the closest advisers and assistants of the Prime Minister told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service RÚV that there was nothing unclear about the matter, claiming the Prime Minister is technically still in office until he has handed the President his resignation, and that resignation been approved, which he adds could happen in the next few days. Jóhannes also argues the Prime Minister never actually sad he was resigning, only stepping down and suggesting that Sigurður Ingi would take over the office for an undetermined time. This could just as well mean until the next elections.
Richard Milne, of the Financial Times, told RÚV that the whole matter was “farcical” and that the Prime Minister’s office was simply playing semantics, a judgement few would dispute.
Read more: The farce continues: Now the PM implies the president lied
Earlier the Prime Minister had issued a public statment where he essentially accused the President of Iceland of having lied about what happened at the meeting between the two on Tuesday morning.
What a bonkers day in Iceland. PM resigns, only for PR to claim he didn't. PM and president basically accuse each other of lying. And tmw?
— Richard Milne (@rmilneNordic) April 5, 2016
Jóhannes “the Explainer” and the serially misunderstood PM
This is not the first time the Prime Minister has accused journalists and other observers of “misunderstanding” his words and actions. Since assuming office in 2013 Sigmundur Davíð and his assistants have on numerous occasions accused media of misconstruing his words or misunderstanding him. Jóhannes Þór’s repeated appearances in media correcting such misunderstandings or attempting to explain what the Prime Minister actually meant to say have led to him acquiring the nickname “Jóhannes the Explainer” by political commentators.
The full text of the press release:
Ladies and gentlemen
I call your attention to the following information regarding the Prime Minister of Iceland.
For immediate release:
Prime Minister of Iceland very proud of Government’s success – suggests Progressive Party Vice-Chairman take over the office of Prime Minister for an unspecified amount of time.
Today the Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has suggested to the Progressive Party Parliamentary group that the Progressive Party Vice-Chairman take over the office of Prime Minister for an unspecified amount of time. The Prime Minister has not resigned and will continue to serve as Chairman of the Progressive Party.
The Prime Minster is very proud of the success of his Government’s policies that have resulted in the resurrection of Iceland’s economy, an unprecedented rise in purchasing power, record low inflation and a general improvement in living standards for the Icelandic people.
The Prime Minister is especially proud of his Government’s handling of Iceland´s situation with the creditors of the failed Icelandic banks. The Prime Minister has devoted much of his time in politics to the challenge of resolving the dramatic balance of payment problem Iceland faced due to banking crisis in 2008. If the creditors of the failed banks, which were nine times the size of the economy, had been allowed to take their claims and exit Iceland with foreign currency, it would have had a devestating impact on the standard of living for Icelanders. Instead the Prime Minister and his Government were able to bring to the table a solution which will have an exceptionally positive impact on the Icelandic economy. The net positive impact to the Icelandic economy is more than three billion GBP, or a quarter of Iceland´s GDP. The net external position of Iceland has never been as good as now.
These facts are acknowledged by international experts, including Lee Buchheit, the Government’s advisor on capital account liberalization and a world renowned authority on sovereign debt reconstruction, who said in a recent interview that the result achieved in settling the failed banks’ estates is unprecedented in world financial history and that this outcome could by no means have been expected.
The Prime Minister’s action reflects his wish to not stand in the way of the important issues that still remain on the Government’s agenda being finished in this term, issues like housing reform and the reform of the financial system that he will continue to fight for in the interest of the Icelandic people.
In recent weeks, the Prime Minister and his wife have provided detailed answers to questions about the assets of the PM’s wife. They have never sought to hide these assets from Icelandic tax authorities and these holdings in Wintris have been reported as an asset on the Prime Minister’s wife’s income tax returns since 2008 and taxes have been paid accordingly in Iceland. No Parliamentary rules on disclosure have been broken. Even The Guardian and other media covering the story have confirmed that they have not seen any evidence to suggest that the Prime Minister, his wife, or Wintris engaged in any actions involving tax avoidance, tax evasion, or any dishonest financial gain.
As up until now, the Icelandic Government continues to use every option available to prevent tax avoidance.
In a press release sent to international media outlets the spokesman of Iceland’s Prime Minister claims the PM did NOT resign yesterday. Instead the Prime Minister only asked the Party’s vice chairman to “take over the office of Prime Minister for an unspecified amount of time.” Political observers have described this latest course of events as “farcical” and a game of semantics. Richard Milne, Financial Times' Nordic correspondant was first to publish the full text of the press release.
Here's the full email from Iceland's government PR claiming prime minister did not in fact resign pic.twitter.com/4bap04OZBY
— Richard Milne (@rmilneNordic) April 5, 2016
An incomprehensible press release detailing the PM’s many achievements
Yesterday the embattled Prime Minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, announced he was stepping down in an effort to save the continued life of the coalition. The news of his resignation made world headlines. The Prime Minister had always denied having broken any laws or done anything wrong, but yesterday it had become clear to political observers in Iceland that he was completely isolated politically, and that the only way to salvage the coalition government of the centre-right Progressive Party, which Sigmundur Davíð leads, and the conservative Independence Party, led by minister of Finance, Bjarni Benediktsson, was for Sigmundur to step down.
Foreign and Icelandic observers also interpreted the course of events as Sigmundur having bowed to public pressure he shoulder responsibility of having utilized a off-shore company in a notorious tax-haven, and of not having disclosed this to the public. Nothing in either his political statements yesterday or those of his political allies indicated he had done anything other than resign from office. The press release sent to international media by his spokesman yesterday therefore came as a shock to all observers.
The statement details at great length the achievements of Sigmundur Davíð in office and stresses that the Prime Minister was only stepping aside “temporarily.”
Farcical semantics
Jóhannes Þór Skúlason, one of the closest advisers and assistants of the Prime Minister told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service RÚV that there was nothing unclear about the matter, claiming the Prime Minister is technically still in office until he has handed the President his resignation, and that resignation been approved, which he adds could happen in the next few days. Jóhannes also argues the Prime Minister never actually sad he was resigning, only stepping down and suggesting that Sigurður Ingi would take over the office for an undetermined time. This could just as well mean until the next elections.
Richard Milne, of the Financial Times, told RÚV that the whole matter was “farcical” and that the Prime Minister’s office was simply playing semantics, a judgement few would dispute.
Read more: The farce continues: Now the PM implies the president lied
Earlier the Prime Minister had issued a public statment where he essentially accused the President of Iceland of having lied about what happened at the meeting between the two on Tuesday morning.
What a bonkers day in Iceland. PM resigns, only for PR to claim he didn't. PM and president basically accuse each other of lying. And tmw?
— Richard Milne (@rmilneNordic) April 5, 2016
Jóhannes “the Explainer” and the serially misunderstood PM
This is not the first time the Prime Minister has accused journalists and other observers of “misunderstanding” his words and actions. Since assuming office in 2013 Sigmundur Davíð and his assistants have on numerous occasions accused media of misconstruing his words or misunderstanding him. Jóhannes Þór’s repeated appearances in media correcting such misunderstandings or attempting to explain what the Prime Minister actually meant to say have led to him acquiring the nickname “Jóhannes the Explainer” by political commentators.
The full text of the press release:
Ladies and gentlemen
I call your attention to the following information regarding the Prime Minister of Iceland.
For immediate release:
Prime Minister of Iceland very proud of Government’s success – suggests Progressive Party Vice-Chairman take over the office of Prime Minister for an unspecified amount of time.
Today the Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has suggested to the Progressive Party Parliamentary group that the Progressive Party Vice-Chairman take over the office of Prime Minister for an unspecified amount of time. The Prime Minister has not resigned and will continue to serve as Chairman of the Progressive Party.
The Prime Minster is very proud of the success of his Government’s policies that have resulted in the resurrection of Iceland’s economy, an unprecedented rise in purchasing power, record low inflation and a general improvement in living standards for the Icelandic people.
The Prime Minister is especially proud of his Government’s handling of Iceland´s situation with the creditors of the failed Icelandic banks. The Prime Minister has devoted much of his time in politics to the challenge of resolving the dramatic balance of payment problem Iceland faced due to banking crisis in 2008. If the creditors of the failed banks, which were nine times the size of the economy, had been allowed to take their claims and exit Iceland with foreign currency, it would have had a devestating impact on the standard of living for Icelanders. Instead the Prime Minister and his Government were able to bring to the table a solution which will have an exceptionally positive impact on the Icelandic economy. The net positive impact to the Icelandic economy is more than three billion GBP, or a quarter of Iceland´s GDP. The net external position of Iceland has never been as good as now.
These facts are acknowledged by international experts, including Lee Buchheit, the Government’s advisor on capital account liberalization and a world renowned authority on sovereign debt reconstruction, who said in a recent interview that the result achieved in settling the failed banks’ estates is unprecedented in world financial history and that this outcome could by no means have been expected.
The Prime Minister’s action reflects his wish to not stand in the way of the important issues that still remain on the Government’s agenda being finished in this term, issues like housing reform and the reform of the financial system that he will continue to fight for in the interest of the Icelandic people.
In recent weeks, the Prime Minister and his wife have provided detailed answers to questions about the assets of the PM’s wife. They have never sought to hide these assets from Icelandic tax authorities and these holdings in Wintris have been reported as an asset on the Prime Minister’s wife’s income tax returns since 2008 and taxes have been paid accordingly in Iceland. No Parliamentary rules on disclosure have been broken. Even The Guardian and other media covering the story have confirmed that they have not seen any evidence to suggest that the Prime Minister, his wife, or Wintris engaged in any actions involving tax avoidance, tax evasion, or any dishonest financial gain.
As up until now, the Icelandic Government continues to use every option available to prevent tax avoidance.
