Hungarian President Katalin Novak tendered her resignation on Saturday following escalating pressure stemming from her controversial pardon of a man convicted of concealing sexual abuse within a children’s home. Novak, a staunch ally of conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban, stepped down a week after the news of her presidential pardon surfaced on the local news site 444.hu.
The revelation sparked public outrage and calls from the opposition for both Novak and former Justice Minister Judit Varga, a rising star in Orban’s ruling Fidesz party, to resign. Varga complied, stepping down as a lawmaker on Saturday.
The scandal marked a rare setback for Orban, who has held power since 2010 and faces European parliament elections amid the country’s recovery from an inflation crisis. Orban, known for his campaigns to safeguard children from what he perceives as LGBTQ activism in schools, has often clashed with the European Commission on various issues.
“I made a mistake… Today is the last day that I address you as a president,” stated Novak during her resignation announcement on state television. Acknowledging her error, she revealed that she granted the pardon in April, mistakenly believing that the convict did not exploit the vulnerability of the children under his care.
This week, Hungarian opposition parties had called for Novak’s resignation, with a thousand demonstrators rallying at her office on Friday. In an attempt to mitigate political fallout, Orban personally introduced a constitutional amendment to parliament, stripping the president of the right to pardon crimes committed against children – a move interpreted by some as a direct message to Novak.
Judit Varga, who endorsed the controversial pardon, announced her resignation from public life on Facebook, relinquishing her parliamentary mandate and withdrawing from the top position on the European party list for Fidesz.
Mate Kocsis, the head of Fidesz’s parliamentary group, described Novak and Varga’s decisions as “responsible,” emphasizing the party’s respect for them. Fidesz leads in opinion polls for the June elections, but approximately a third of voters remain undecided.
Source: Reuters
