Icelandic political scandals are
political scandal
In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt, uneth ...
s which have occurred in
Iceland's history and are connected to
Iceland's politicians:
* (1911) Bankafarganið – Public opinion shifted to mistrust when
Björn Jónsson
Björn Jónsson (8 October 1846 – 24 November 1912) was minister for Iceland from 31 March 1909 to 14 March 1911. He was the father of Sveinn Björnsson, the only regent of Iceland and first president of Iceland. Björn became Minister for ...
, the Icelandic minister, fired the director of the national bank.
* (1923) The Magnús Jónsson scandal –
Magnús Jónsson from
Úlfljótsvatn resigned from office as Minister of Finance, after he had been criticized in the
Althing
The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (" thing fields" or "assemb ...
.
* (1930) The
Big Bomb –
Jónas Jónsson from
Hriflu fired Helga Tómasson, head physician of
Kleppi hospital, after she had warned Jónas that he was exhibiting signs of mental illness and should immediately stop holding office as Minister of Justice.
* (1932) The Magnús Guðmundsson scandal – Minister of Justice
Magnús Guðmundsson
Magnús Guðmundsson (6 February 1879 – 28 November 1937) was an Icelandic politician. He graduated in laws from the University of Copenhagen in 1907. Magnus was a member of Althingi for his constituency in North west Iceland from 1916 till t ...
resigned after Hermann Jónasson found him guilty in a case which connected insolvency proceedings to his wholesale firm. Magnús resumed his position after he was acquitted in Hæstarétti.
* (1937) The eider duck scandal –
Hermann Jónasson
Hermann Jónasson (25 December 1896 – 22 January 1976) was an Icelandic politician of the Progressive Party, who was prime minister of Iceland on two occasions.
He served his first term from 28 July 1934 to 16 May 1942. This term includ ...
, then chief of police in Reykjavík and city representative for the
Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to:
Active parties
* Progressive Party, Brazil
* Progressive Party (Chile)
* Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus
* Dominica Progressive Party
* Progressive Party (Iceland)
* Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...
was accused of shooting
eider ducks which were protected.
* (1941) Military protection scandal – Prime minister
Hermann Jónasson
Hermann Jónasson (25 December 1896 – 22 January 1976) was an Icelandic politician of the Progressive Party, who was prime minister of Iceland on two occasions.
He served his first term from 28 July 1934 to 16 May 1942. This term includ ...
asked Bertil Eric Kuniholm, consul from the US, to relay to his superiors in Washington that Hermann wanted no black men in the troops which were sent to Iceland according to the U.S.-Icelandic defense agreement.
* (1976)
Ólafur Jóhannesson
Ólafur Jóhannesson (1 March 1913 – 20 May 1984) was the prime minister of Iceland for the Progressive Party on two occasions. He was a member of the Progressive Party, serving as party chairman during the 1970s.
Career
Ólafur was educat ...
was judged guilty of
defamation for the comment "Mafia she is and mafia she shall be called" about the so-called ''
Vísir mafia''.
* Green bean scandal –
Steingrímur Hermannsson
Steingrímur Hermannsson (pronounced ; 22 June 1928 – 1 February 2010) was an Icelandic politician who served as prime minister of Iceland from 1983 to 1987, and again from 1988 to 1991.
Early childhood
Steingrímur's father was Hermann Jó ...
, then executive director of Iceland's Research Council, purchased
green beans and other food for the
Surtsey
Surtsey (" Surtr's island" in Icelandic, ) is a volcanic island located in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off the southern coast of Iceland. At Surtsey is the southernmost point of Iceland. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began ...
Island Society of which he was director of accounting. The purchases were discovered in the Research Council bookkeeping, but the green beans were listed as car maintenance for the Research Council.
* (1987)
Albert Guðmundsson resigned from office as minister due to payments he received from
Hafskip for which he had not prepared a tax statement.
* (1988) Alcohol purchase scandal –
Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson
Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson (born 21 February 1939) is an Icelandic politician and diplomat.
He was Minister of Finance from 1987 to 1988 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1995.
He is known in the Baltics as, at his initiative, Icela ...
and
Magnús Thoroddsen presiding judge of the
Supreme Court were criticized for purchasing alcohol at discounted prices for personal use between 1987–1988. Magnús was quickly dismissed from his post by
Halldór Ásgrímsson
Halldór Ásgrímsson (pronounced ; 8 September 1947 – 18 May 2015) was an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 2004 to 2006 and was leader of the Progressive Party from 1994 to 2006.
Education and early life
Ha ...
, then Minister of Justice, because of the purchase of more than 2000 bottles.
* (1994)
Guðmundur Árni Stefánsson resigned from office as Health- and Security Minister in November 1994 after harsh criticism of his official bookkeeping in a report from the National Audit Office.
* (2001)
Árni Johnsen
Árni Johnsen (born 1 March 1944) is an Icelandic former politician from Vestmannaeyjar, who represented the Independence Party in the Althing as a member of the South Constituency. In 2002 he was convicted of paying for personal property using ...
resigned as MP, and was then sentenced to
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
for various enrichment violations.
* (2004)
Þórólfur Árnason
Þórólfur Árnason is an Icelandic businessman and politician, who served as Mayor of Reykjavík from 1 February 2003 to 30 November 2004. He replaced Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir after the Left Greens and the Progressive Party had demande ...
resigned from office as mayor of
Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
in November 2004 after charges that he had been guilty of consultation with oil partners.
* (2006) Puffin scandal –
Einar K. Guðfinnsson Ministry of Fisheries was exposed for illegal
puffin hunting at
Grímsey á Steingrímsfirði without a stipulated
hunting license.
* (2008) Ólafur F. Magnússon fired his assistant twice.
* (2008)
Bjarni Harðarson
Bjarni Harðarson (born 25 December 1961 in Arnýjarhús, Hveragerði) is a bookseller, novelist, and former MP from the Icelandic Progressive Party.
Election and resignation
Bjarni was elected to parliament in 2007 as the eighth MP from the Sou ...
resigned as MP due to mistakenly sending an email which was meant to be secret and anonymous, but was unintentionally sent to the mass media.
* (2009) Subsidy scandal: In early April the
Independence Party
Independence Party may refer to:
Active parties Outside United States
* Independence Party (Egypt)
* Estonian Independence Party
* Independence Party (Finland)
* Independence Party (Iceland)
* Independence Party (Mauritius)
* Independence Part ...
received a 55 million
krónur subsidy from
FL-group and
Landsbanka Íslands the day before a 300.000 krónur ceiling was set for subsidies to political parties.
* (2018)
Klaustur Affair: MPs were recorded making rude comments.
Notes
References
*
{{Authority control
Politics of Iceland
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
Scandals
A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...