Accessibility links

Breaking News

Iceland's PM Resigns Amid Protests


People gather to demonstrate against Iceland's prime minister, in Reykjavik on April 4, 2016.
People gather to demonstrate against Iceland's prime minister, in Reykjavik on April 4, 2016.

Iceland’s prime minister resigned Tuesday in a wave of massive protests following revelations about his questionable offshore investments.

Earlier Tuesday, President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who cut short his U.S. visit, refused Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson’s request to dissolve the government and parliament and call new elections, following the release of the so-called Panama Papers.

Prime Minister Gunnlaugsson was under pressure to resign from thousands of protesters since documents showed he and his wife set up a company with the help of a Panamanian law firm at the center of a massive tax data leak. Gunnlaugsson has denied doing anything illegal, saying all taxes were paid.

Gunnlaugsson is among 140 politicians and public officials around the world named in the Panama Papers that have raised questions about alleged financial misconduct.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG