As we speak, the people of Iceland are protesting for the recall of their prime minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson after it came to light that he too has been involved in the Panama Paper debacle.

Yesterday, during an interview with Swedish television company SVT, Gunnlaugsson was asked about a company called Wintris, which he previously said had been fully declared to the Icelandic tax authority. He replied that he was not prepared to answer such questions and his shaky stance is evidence to that – he looks nervous as hell.

What are you trying to make up here? This is totally inappropriate.

He told parliament yesterday that he will not be resigning:

I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter. The government has had good results. Progress has been strong and it is important that the government can finish its work.

But as he left the building, large protests were already developing outside the parliament buildings. It was discovered that Gunnlaugsson and his wife had set up a company in the British Virgin Islands with the help of the Panamanian law firm.

Yet he told parliament that he and his wife have paid all their taxes in full, denying having assets in the tax haven.

Gunnlaugsson has been accused by opposition leaders of a serious conflict of interest because as prime minister he was involved in reaching a deal for the banks’ claimants. Former Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir called for Gunnlaugsson’s resignation, as did Birgitta Jonsdottir, the popular head of the Pirate Party.

Gunnlaugsson, the head of the center-right Progressive Party, began his four-year term in 2013, five years after Iceland’s financial collapse.

Huge protest going on in Iceland right now!#reykjavik#iceland#panamapapers#austurvollur#protest#sigmundurpic.twitter.com/H09TWpnbZd

— Seth Sharp (@sharpseth) April 4, 2016

If you’re still unsure about what’s really going on, even after you read our introduction piece this morning, here’s an explanation for five-year-olds:

When you get a quarter you put it in the piggy bank. The piggy bank is on a shelf in your closet. Your mom knows this and she checks on it every once in a while, so she knows when you put more money in or spend it.

Now one day, you might decide ‘I don’t want mom to look at my money.’ So you go over to Johnny’s house with an extra piggy bank that you’re going to keep in his room. You write your name on it and put it in his closet. Johnny’s mom is always very busy, so she never has time to check on his piggy bank. So you can keep yours there and it will stay a secret.

Now all the kids in the neighbourhood think this is a good idea, and everyone goes to Johnny’s house with extra piggy banks. Now Johnny’s closet is full of piggy banks from everyone in the neighbourhood.

One day, Johnny’s mom comes home and sees all the piggy banks. She gets very mad and calls everyone’s parents to let them know.

Now not everyone did this for a bad reason. Eric’s older brother always steals from his piggy bank, so he just wanted a better hiding spot. Timmy wanted to save up to buy his mom a birthday present without her knowing. Sammy just did it because he thought it was fun. But many kids did do it for a bad reason. Jacob was stealing people’s lunch money and didn’t want his parents to figure it out. Michael was stealing money from his mom’s purse. Fat Bobby’s parents put him on a diet, and didn’t want them to figure out when he was buying candy.

Now in real life, many very important people were just caught hiding their piggy banks at Johnny’s house in Panama. Today their moms all found out. Pretty soon, we’ll know more about which of these important people were doing it for bad reasons and which were doing it for good reasons. But almost everyone is in trouble regardless, because it’s against the rules to keep secrets no matter what.

Nailed it.

[source: theguardian&time]

[sourceimage: businessinsider&xperimen&bloomberg]