Inga Sæland refuses to answer questions about resignation pressure

Education and Children’s Affairs Minister Inga Sæland declined to answer questions about whether Guðmundur Ingi Kristinsson was pressured to resign as a minister in January, mbl.is reports.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting on Friday, Sæland said she had already said all she had to say about the matter. She has not agreed to interviews with mbl.is since the news outlet reported the contents of messages sent to Guðmundur Ingi by his assistant before he resigned.

The messages said the decision to resign was entirely that of “the Valkyries”, referring to Sæland, Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir and Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. The three women have said Guðmundur Ingi made the decision himself, contrary to his account. The messages also said he had two options: announce his resignation or “go to war”.

Asked about the conflicting accounts, Sæland said: “Guðmundur Ingi resigned with dignity. He did it himself.” When the reporter noted that her assistant had been in contact with Guðmundur Ingi’s assistant before the resignation, she again said she had nothing more to add.

Sæland said Guðmundur Ingi resigned on January 8 because of illness after taking sick leave and undergoing major open-heart surgery. Asked whether her assistant had told him on January 5 that he had to resign, she said she did not know what the two assistants had discussed.

She said she had nothing further to add to the matter nine months later and offered to discuss the grading system instead. When pressed to answer questions about pressure on Guðmundur Ingi to resign, she asked: “Are you telling me what I need to answer or not?”