Parliament opens inquiry into minister’s dealings with Landsvirkjun

Iceland’s parliamentary committee on constitutional affairs and oversight has unanimously agreed to investigate Finance Minister Daði Már Kristófersson’s communications with power company Landsvirkjun and whether he misled parliament about the departure of its former chief executive, mbl.is reports.

Ingveldur Anna Sigurðardóttir, an Independence Party MP and the committee’s second deputy chair, said members approved the inquiry unanimously. The committee is finalising its questions and giving members a chance to comment, she said.

Sigurðardóttir said the minister told parliament on October 19 that it had been given the full account, in response to a question from Independence Party MP Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson. She said a memorandum from former chief executive Hörður Arnarson later showed that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, and the minister, had intervened in Landsvirkjun’s operations.

She also said the minister had not provided parliament with those documents, which she said he was required to do under parliamentary rules. Sigurðardóttir said the minister had replaced the company’s previous board with a new one, which then became involved in its operations. She said the committee would examine whether there had been political interference and whether the EFTA Surveillance Authority might intervene.

Sigurðardóttir said the committee hoped to move quickly and expected the matter to become clearer around the middle of the month, when it receives the documents.