Iceland names new prime minister as elections loom
LONDON -- Iceland's centre-right governing coalition has named fisheries and agriculture minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson as country's new prime minister after the previous leader resigned because of revelations that he had holdings in an offshore company.
Johannson, 53, who is also deputy leader of the Progressive Party, will seek the president's approval to become Prime Minister, but the opposition said it's planning to pursue a vote of no confidence in parliament.
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"We will still push forward a proposal to dissolve parliament and hold earlier elections," Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, a legislator with the Pirate Party, which has high levels of popular support, told The Associated Press.
General elections, which were expected to take place in spring 2017, will now take place this autumn.
The move comes after Prime Minister and Progressive Party chairman Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson resigned in the aftermath of the leaked Panama Papers.
The massive leak from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca showed Gunnlaugsson and his wife set up a company in the British Virgin Islands to evade taxes.
The prime minister earlier denied doing anything illegal and says all taxes were paid.
Icelanders were enraged after the news broke that Gunnlaugsson was linked to the offshore businesses, and protests have gripped the capital of the small nation.
Thousands filled the square in front of Iceland’s Parliament on Monday evening, calling on the prime minister and his government to resign and hold new elections.
Additional information from the Associated Press.
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