PM rejects claim she misrepresented minister’s resignation

Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said she would not tolerate being accused of saying something untrue during a question session in Iceland’s parliament on Monday, in response to questions about the resignation of former Education and Children’s Minister Guðmundur Ingi Kristinsson. The exchange was reported by mbl.is.

Centre Party leader Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson asked whether government leaders had decided Guðmundur Ingi should leave the cabinet before he received that message from his former aide. He also questioned whether the aide’s account was accurate, or whether ministers had wrongly dismissed it.

Sigmundur Davíð raised the issue after criticising the government’s plan to discuss Protocol 35 in parliament the following day. He called the decision misguided and said it was strange for ministers to speak on behalf of Iceland’s opposing party in a coming court case. He asked whether the debate was intended to divert attention from the former minister’s resignation.

Frostadóttir said she had been preparing to answer a question about Protocol 35, but that matters could change in less than two minutes. She said she had answered questions about Guðmundur Ingi’s case before, and that he had said he decided to resign.

She added that ministers serve with the support of a parliamentary majority, and that major decisions about personnel changes are not private matters for an individual minister or party leader, whether they relate to health or other factors.