“He was pretty lively today,” said Pirate Party MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir, in an interview with Vísir yesterday, of Ásmundur Einar Daðason, assistant to the Prime Minister and MP for the Progressive Party, who, earlier this week was reported to have thrown up on fellow passengers on a May 10 WOW Air flight to Washington D.C.
Birgitta was responding to statements made by Þórunn Egilsdóttir, parliamentary chair of the Progressive Party, yesterday afternoon, claiming that Ásmundur was suffering from severe gastritis.
“This is more than a bug. He is seriously ill, has gone on medical leave and is taking strong drugs,” Þórunn told Visir yesterday.
She dismissed reports that Ásmundur was heavily intoxicated on the flight, saying that the MP was “far from having a problem with his alcohol consumption.”
She also criticized media coverage of the situation, saying it’s “unbelievable how far people allow themselves to go, picking on someone and ruining their reputation, sharing slander and not even listening to those who are telling the truth about what happened.”
Birgitta called Þórunn’s claims regarding Ásmundur’s health into question, saying that he had actually been in parliament earlier that day prior to Þórunn’s announcement. “Jón Gunnarsson sits between me and him. They were joking and making fun of the opposition. He wasn’t gravely ill as far as I could tell. Unless he’s just really good at hiding it.”
In an interview with DV earlier this week Ásmundur rejected allegations that he had been drinking excessively before and throughout the flight, and attributed the incident to chronic stomach problems, now said to have been diagnosed as gastritis.
When asked whether he had a problem regulating his alcohol consumption, he said: “No what? I’ve never heard that one before. I’m the last MP who would be having a problem with alcohol.”
