Iceland’s parliament had called for snap elections on Sunday, after the Panama Papers exposed Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson’s ties to the country’s banks, whose bailout he oversaw after the 2008 election. On Monday night, thousands of protesters crowded the streets of Reykjavík, to call on Gunnlaugsson to resign (and to throw yogurt at the Iceland’s parliament building).
On Tuesday, Gunnlaugsson resigned from office after requesting that President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson dissolve Iceland’s parliament and call new elections. But Grimsson has resisted, saying, “I do not think it is normal that the prime minister alone ... should be given the authority to dissolve the parliament without the majority of the parliament being satisfied with that decision.” The BBC reports that observers in Iceland describe Grimsson’s move as “highly unusual.”