Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugson, the former Prime Minister of Iceland who resigned last week after it was revealed he had ties to an off-shore shell company in the notorious tax haven Tortola, has announced he is going on a vacation. The local news site visir.is reports Sigmundur has called in his alternate in Parliament, something which is done when a MP is vacating his seat for more than two weeks. We can therefore expect Sigmundur will be vacationing for at least two weeks.
Read more: John Oliver on TV interview with Iceland's former PM: like watching a slow motion car crash”
In an open letter to the members of his party, published on the local news site eyjan.is, Sigmundur says he needs to rest, but that he will then travel around the country, meeting members of his party to discuss the political situation and answer questions. He also complains that the last two weeks have been hard on him arguing that he has always paid all his taxes correctly. However, Sigmundur has not yet made his tax returns public, instead simply asserting he has done nothing wrong, asking people to trust him.
Has yet to make his tax returns public
Pressed on the issue Sigmundur told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that he would make his tax returns public – if the leaders of opposition political parties did the same. When Morgunblaðið asked the leaders of the opposition parties whether they were willing to make their tax-returns public all three said they were more than willing to call what they characterized as the PM’s bluff: “If he needs some excuse to keep his returns secret he will surely find those excuses, but I am more than willing to publish my returns if that helps someone to come clean,” Árni Páll Árnason, the chairman of the Social Democratic Alliance told Morgunblaðið.
Read more: What’s going on in Icelandic Politics? What is likely to happen next?
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the chairman of the Left Green Movement also told Morgunblaðið that anyone was free to look at her tax return. “But this matter is much bigger than just a question of taxes.” The very fact that the PM had used a shell company in a tax haven was problematic, and so was the fact that he had attempted to keep this company and these assets a secret, refusing to come clean even after it was clear the secret was out.
Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugson, the former Prime Minister of Iceland who resigned last week after it was revealed he had ties to an off-shore shell company in the notorious tax haven Tortola, has announced he is going on a vacation. The local news site visir.is reports Sigmundur has called in his alternate in Parliament, something which is done when a MP is vacating his seat for more than two weeks. We can therefore expect Sigmundur will be vacationing for at least two weeks.
Read more: John Oliver on TV interview with Iceland's former PM: like watching a slow motion car crash”
In an open letter to the members of his party, published on the local news site eyjan.is, Sigmundur says he needs to rest, but that he will then travel around the country, meeting members of his party to discuss the political situation and answer questions. He also complains that the last two weeks have been hard on him arguing that he has always paid all his taxes correctly. However, Sigmundur has not yet made his tax returns public, instead simply asserting he has done nothing wrong, asking people to trust him.
Has yet to make his tax returns public
Pressed on the issue Sigmundur told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that he would make his tax returns public – if the leaders of opposition political parties did the same. When Morgunblaðið asked the leaders of the opposition parties whether they were willing to make their tax-returns public all three said they were more than willing to call what they characterized as the PM’s bluff: “If he needs some excuse to keep his returns secret he will surely find those excuses, but I am more than willing to publish my returns if that helps someone to come clean,” Árni Páll Árnason, the chairman of the Social Democratic Alliance told Morgunblaðið.
Read more: What’s going on in Icelandic Politics? What is likely to happen next?
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the chairman of the Left Green Movement also told Morgunblaðið that anyone was free to look at her tax return. “But this matter is much bigger than just a question of taxes.” The very fact that the PM had used a shell company in a tax haven was problematic, and so was the fact that he had attempted to keep this company and these assets a secret, refusing to come clean even after it was clear the secret was out.
