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2016 Icelandic anti-government protests

2016 Icelandic anti-government protests
Althingi protest iceland 04.04.2016.png
Protesters in Reykjavík on 4 April 2016.
Date 4 April 2016 – 20 April 2016
Location Austurvöllur, Reykjavík
Caused by Revelations about the tax affairs of the Prime Minister, the finance minister and the interior minister.
Goals
  • Resignation of the government
  • New parliamentary elections
Methods Protests
Resulted in
Parties to the civil conflict
Lead figures
No single leader
Casualties
Death(s) 0
Injuries 0
Arrested 3

The 2016 Icelandic anti-government protests were a series of protests against the Icelandic government following the release of the Panama Papers.

In 2007, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson and his wife, Anna Sigurlaug Pálsdóttir, set up Wintris Inc via the law firm Mossack Fonseca. The company was registered in the British Virgin Islands, "a well-known offshore tax haven." In January 2009, Sigmundur Davíð was elected as the Chairman of the Progressive Party, and in the 2009 parliamentary election was elected as a member of the Althing. On the last day of 2009, Sigmundur Davíð sold his share in the company to his wife for $1, just before a new law came into force that would have forced him to declare his ownership as a conflict of interest. Wintris Inc lost millions of dollars as a result of the financial crisis.

Following the 2013 parliamentary election, the Progressive Party and the Independence Party, both of which had won 19 seats, formed a coalition government. Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, as Chairman of the Progressive Party, became Prime Minister, and Bjarni Benediktsson, Chairman of the Independence Party, became Minister of Finance. As Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð pledged to fight demands from foreign creditors for full repayment by the Icelandic banks.

In March 2016, it was revealed that Anna Sigurlaug Pálsdóttir, the wife of the Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, was a creditor for Iceland's three failed banks, Landsbanki, Kaupthing Bank and Glitnir. Her company, Wintris Inc, was claiming a total of ISK 515 million from the three banks, due to losses incurred during the financial crisis. Following this revelation, a number of Icelandic MPs criticised the arrangement, with Svandís Svavarsdóttir, a former minister, calling for the government to resign and for new elections.


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