Hungary’s President Resigns Over Pardon For Child Abuse
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungary’s conservative president has resigned after massive protests over a pardon she granted to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case.
Katalin Novák’s decision unleashed an unprecedented political scandal for the long-serving nationalist government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as she was a close political ally.
Overnight, thousands had demanded the resignation of Novák, a devoted Christian who was Hungary’s first female and youngest head of state.
Late Saturday, crowds returned to the presidential palace overlooking Budapest, but they began celebrating when Novák, 46, announced in a televised message that she would step down from the presidency.
Novák, who held the office since 2022, made her decision after more than a week of public outrage as it was revealed that she issued a presidential pardon in April 2023 to a man convicted of hiding child sexual abuses in a state-run children’s home.
She granted the presidential pardon to, among others, the former deputy director of a children’s home in Bicske convicted of being an accomplice in pedophile crimes
“I issued a pardon that caused bewilderment and unrest for many people,” Novák explained on Saturday. “I made a mistake.”
RARE EPISODE
Novák’s resignation came as a rare episode of political turmoil for Hungary’s nationalist governing party, Fidesz, which has ruled with a constitutional majority since 2010.
The move embarrassed Orbán, who has led a political crusade against the LGBTQ+ community in a controversial ‘child protection’ law.
Orbán’s party, Fidesz, was accused of dismantling democratic institutions and rigging the electoral system and media in its favor, charges he denies.
Critics also view him as the most friendly to the Kremlin within the European Union.
Orbán has been criticized within the 27-nation bloc for holding up critical decisions such as support for Ukraine and admitting Sweden into the NATO military alliance.
However, Novák’s position became unattainable when Orbán appeared to distance himself from the president, saying there shall “be no mercy for pedophiles.
Orbán added that he had filed a constitutional amendment to prevent a presidential pardon from being granted to perpetrators of crimes committed against minors.
‘NO MERCY’
He said he submitted the amendment on behalf of the government because “there must be no mercy” for pedophiles. Orbán stressed that he had five children and six grandchildren and warned that if anybody touched them, his first thought would be that “they must be cut in half, they must be cut into pieces.”
The left-leaning opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) party has written a letter to Pope Francis about President Novák’s pardon of the former deputy head of a children’s home in Bicske, near Budapest.
The pardon came ahead of the Pope’s visit last April, journalists discovered. DK group leader Olga Kálmán said the letter was delivered to Michael W Banach, the “apostolic nuncio,” or Vatican envoy, to Hungary.
Kálmán made clear she sought moral support from Pope Francis and stressed DK wants to protect children and wouldn’t allow “pedophile-stroking Katalin Novák and the Orbán government to set free further pedophiles.”
A key Orbán ally and a former vice president of Fidesz, she served as the minister for families until her appointment to the presidency.
She has been outspoken in advocating for traditional family values and the protection of children, and in addition to the resignation of Novak, another leading female politician from Fidesz also stepped up over the same case. Judit Varga, who was minister of justice at the time of the pardon, countersigned the clemency decision.
The double resignation of its two most prominent female politicians severely setback Orbán and his party.
Varga was due to head the Fidesz list in the European elections in June. However, “I resign from public life, I resign my mandate as a lawmaker and also the top position on the European party list,” Varga explained.