Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, who has announced he will resign from his office, implies in an official statement that president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson lied about the subject of their meeting earlier today.
Shortly after noon, following the meeting with the PM, the President of Iceland held a press conference to explain his decision to refuse the PM's request to dissolve the parliament.
In the afternoon a statement was published on the website of the Prime Minister's Office (in Icelandic) stating that the PM “did not ask the president formally to dissolve parliament”.
In an interview with local TV stations (interview in Icelandic) the president firmly said that there was “no misunderstanding” between him and the PM and repeated his description of their meeting. He also said that it was inappropriate to be drawn into quarrel with the outgoing PM.
Read more: Iceland's president refuses the PM to dissolve parliament – the president's full speech
Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð has an unusually long history of accusing people of misunderstanding or misinterpreting him. His closest personal assistant and political adviser, Jóhannes Þór Skúlason, is nicknamed The Explainer for his frequent forays into social media, explaining what the PM was “really” meaning, following some of his controversial statements.
Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, who has announced he will resign from his office, implies in an official statement that president Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson lied about the subject of their meeting earlier today.
Shortly after noon, following the meeting with the PM, the President of Iceland held a press conference to explain his decision to refuse the PM's request to dissolve the parliament.
In the afternoon a statement was published on the website of the Prime Minister's Office (in Icelandic) stating that the PM “did not ask the president formally to dissolve parliament”.
In an interview with local TV stations (interview in Icelandic) the president firmly said that there was “no misunderstanding” between him and the PM and repeated his description of their meeting. He also said that it was inappropriate to be drawn into quarrel with the outgoing PM.
Read more: Iceland's president refuses the PM to dissolve parliament – the president's full speech
Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð has an unusually long history of accusing people of misunderstanding or misinterpreting him. His closest personal assistant and political adviser, Jóhannes Þór Skúlason, is nicknamed The Explainer for his frequent forays into social media, explaining what the PM was “really” meaning, following some of his controversial statements.
