The Panama secrecy leak claimed its first scalp after Icelandic Prime
Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned following revelations
about his personal finances.
The decision was announced in
parliament after the legislature had been the focus of street protests
that attracted thousands of Icelanders angered by the alleged tax
evasion of their leader. Gunnlaugsson, who will step down a year before
his term was due to end, gave in to mounting pressure from the
opposition and even from corners of his own party.
The Panama
documents leak, printed in newspapers around the world, showed that the
41-year-old premier and his wife had investments placed in the British
Virgin Islands, which included debt in Iceland’s three failed banks.
Gunnlaugsson is the second Icelandic premier to resign amid a popular
uprising, after Geir Haarde was forced out following protests in 2009.
Gunnlaugsson
always looked to be the most vulnerable of the politicians implicated
in the documents. From Moscow to Islamabad and Buenos Aires, most public
figures have managed to beat off the revelations with a combination of
outrage, indifference and semi denial. None of those tactics worked for
Gunnlaugsson, whose first response was to walk out of an interview with
Swedish TV, a clip that went viral after the leaks were published on
Sunday.
The electorate balked at the alleged tax evasion and
Gunnlaugsson’s initial refusal to budge. Police on Monday erected
barricades around the parliament in Reykjavik as protesters beat drums
and pelted the legislature with eggs and yogurt. Almost 10,000 people
gathered, according to police, while organizers said the figure was
twice as high. Thousands more had signed up on Facebook to attend a
second round of protests due to take place on Tuesday afternoon.
Other
political leaders have also been forced to defend themselves since the
leaked documents surfaced. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said he has
no offshore funds or trusts amid demands for an inquiry from opposition
leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Gunnlaugsson put Agriculture Minister
Sigridur Ingi Johannsson forward as his proposed replacement. The
outgoing prime minister will remain chairman of the Progressive Party,
which has governed in a two-party coalition since 2013.
“La sabiduría de la vida consiste en la eliminación de lo no esencial. En reducir los problemas de la filosofía a unos pocos solamente: el goce del hogar, de la vida, de la naturaleza, de la cultura”. Lin Yutang
Cervantes
Hoy es el día más hermoso de nuestra vida, querido Sancho; los obstáculos más grandes, nuestras propias indecisiones; nuestro enemigo más fuerte, el miedo al poderoso y a nosotros mismos; la cosa más fácil, equivocarnos; la más destructiva, la mentira y el egoísmo; la peor derrota, el desaliento; los defectos más peligrosos, la soberbia y el rencor; las sensaciones más gratas, la buena conciencia, el esfuerzo para ser mejores sin ser perfectos, y sobretodo, la disposición para hacer el bien y combatir la injusticia dondequiera que esté.
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES
Don Quijote de la Mancha.
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES
Don Quijote de la Mancha.