Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon believes that politicians who accepted financial contributions from private companies ought to “seriously consider” resigning from their posts. This he told the morning news show Ísland í bítið yesterday morning.
“These people ought to consider their path very seriously and consider whether they would be doing anyone a favor by stepping aside,” he told hosts of the show.
Most recently, Social Democrat MP Steinunn Valdís Óskarsdóttir and conservative MP Gunnlaugur Þór Þórðarson have been harshly critcized by the public for having accepted large donations from private companies during campaign seasons. People have begun protesting in front of Óskarsdóttir’s private home, calling for her resignation. Þórðarson, who accepted 25 million ISK as a loan from his own party, has had no such protests in front of his house.
Sigfússon added that the saddest part is how expensive party primary campaigns have been for some candidates, suggesting instead that parties themselves cover the costs of individual candidates within their own party fighting for their position on the primaries list.
He added, however, that the amount of money accepted, and by which company, needed to be considered as well; that there is a difference between a few tens of thousands on one hand and millions of crowns on the other.