Overwhelming Majority Want Sigmundur To Resign

The results of a new Gallup poll show that 81% of Icelanders want Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson to resign once and for all.

RÚV reports that when asked if Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson should resign from his post or remain on as Prime Minister, 81% of respondents of Gallup poll respondents said he should resign. Only 19% said he should stay on.

In terms of demographics, 14% of Progressive Party voters believe Sigmundur should resign, but voters for the Progressives’ partners in the ruling coalition – the Independence Party – were considerably more supportive of his resigning, with 56% saying Sigmundur Davíð should vacate the office.

Not that Sigmundur is alone in terms of low levels of support. A poll conducted by Fréttablaðið/Stöð 2 shows that 69% believe Minister of Finance and Independence Party chairperson Bjarni Benediktsson should also resign, and 63% believe Minister of the Interior Ólöf Nordal should resign as well. They, as well as Sigmundur, have all been implicated in the Panama Papers scandal.

The events of the past three days have had a significant impact on party support. Vísir reports that 43% of respondents to a new monthly poll conducted by Fréttablaðið/Stöð 2/Vísir now say they would vote for the Pirate Party if elections were held today. While the party has been at the top of the polls for over a year now, this is the highest level of support the party has ever had.

Other parties in the opposition also saw a rise in support, with the Social Democrats going from 8.2% to 10.2% between polls; the Left-Greens going from 8.4% to 11.2%; and Bright Future going from 1.8% to 3.8%.

Not faring so well were the parties of the ruling coalition. The Progressives dropped from 12.8% to 7.9% between polls, and the Independence Party went from 27.6% to 21.6%.

A new round of protests are scheduled to take place in front of parliament today at 17:00.

For more on this continuing story, follow our Panama Papers tag on Grapevine.is/news.