Iceland’s Prime Minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, resigned on Tuesday, becoming the first casualty of leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm which have shone a spotlight on the offshore wealth of politicians and public figures worldwide.
The Panama Papers showed the premier’s wife owned an offshore company with big claims on Iceland’s banks, an undeclared conflict of interest for Gunnlaugsson, infuriating many who hurled eggs and bananas in street protests calling for him to step down.
The banks collapsed as the global financial crisis hit in 2008 and many Icelanders blame politicians for not reining in their debt-fuelled binge and averting a deep recession.
The more than 11.5 million documents, leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, have caused public outrage over how the world’s rich and powerful are able to stash their wealth and avoid taxes while many people suffer austerity and hardship.
Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in setting up offshore companies, denies any wrongdoing. On Tuesday, the Panamanian government sought to defend the country’s reputation.
Panama President Juan Carlos Varela’s chief of staff told a news conference that the government could retaliate after France announced it would put the Central American country back on its blacklist of uncooperative tax jurisdictions. The official, Alvaro Aleman, said that no Panamanian company had been found to have committed a crime.
He added: “We are not going to allow Panama to be used as a scapegoat by third parties. Each country (implicated) is responsible.” The president had instructed the foreign ministry to contact all of the dozens of countries implicated, Aleman said.
Among those named in the documents are friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the leaders of China, Britain and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine.
Nigeria’s Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, are also mentioned in the leaks.
Gunnlaugsson quit ahead of a planned vote of no-confidence, hours after asking the president to dissolve parliament, a move which would almost certainly have led to a new election.
The deputy leader of his Progressive Party, Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, told reporters the party will suggest to its coalition partners in the Independence Party that he himself should become the new prime minister.
Opposition parties said, however, that they still wanted a snap general election. Any new election could see victory for the anti-establishment Pirate Party, according to opinion polls the most popular in Iceland.
With the fallout from the leaks reverberating across the globe, British Prime Minister David Cameron also came under fire from opponents who accused him of allowing a rich elite to dodge their taxes.
And in China, the Beijing government dismissed as “groundless” reports that the families of President Xi Jinping and other current and former Chinese leaders were linked to offshore accounts.
US President Barack Obama said the Panama Papers showed tax avoidance was a major problem and urged the U.S. Congress to take action to stop US companies from taking advantage of loopholes allowing them to avoid paying taxes.
“We’ve had another reminder in this big dump of data coming out of Panama that tax avoidance is a big, global problem,” he told reporters.
Saraki is currently standing trial over false assets declaration at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) while Ibori is serving jail term in the United Kingdom after pleading guilty to fraud charges in 2012.
