On state television, President Katalin Novak of Hungary whose presidency is mostly ceremonial, announced her resignation. “I made a mistake… Today is the last day that I address you as a president,” she said. Katalin Novak abruptly returned to Budapest on Saturday after aborting an official visit to Qatar.
“I decided to pardon the offender in April of last year because I thought he had not exploited the helplessness of the kids he was responsible for. I erred because the pardon and my lack of logic were appropriate to cast doubt on the zero-tolerance policy against pedophilia,” Katalin Novak claimed.
Regarding the issue, opposition parties in Hungary have called for Novak’s resignation this week. On Friday, a thousand protestors gathered outside of Novak’s office to demand that she step down.
Why did Katalin Novak resign?
President Katalin Novak of Hungary announced her resignation on Saturday in response to growing criticism over her decision to pardon a man found guilty of aiding in the concealment of sexual abuse in a children’s home.
Katalin Novak a close supporter of conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban, tendered her resignation a week after 444. hu, a local news outlet, first revealed her presidential pardon.
The public outcry over the disclosure led to demands for her resignation and those of former Justice Minister Judit Varga from the opposition. On Saturday, Varga, a rising star in Orban’s Fidesz party, announced his resignation from the legislature.
As the nation is coming out of an inflation problem, Orban—who has been in office since 2010—faced a rare setback in the form of the controversy. He also has elections to the European Parliament coming up.
For many years, Orban has fought to shield kids from what he has called LGBTQ campaigners who prowl the country’s schools. This is only one of the many matters on which Orban and the European Commission have disagreed.
Orban personally presented a constitutional amendment to parliament late on Thursday that would have taken away the president’s ability to pardon crimes against minors to limit the political fallout. That decision had been seen by some political experts as a direct challenge to Novak.
Judit Varga, who approved the pardon and was supposed to head Fidesz’s electoral list, said on Facebook on Saturday that she would resign from her position as a Fidesz MP and accept responsibility for her choice.
“I resign from public life, I resign my mandate as a lawmaker and also the top position on the European party list,” stated Varga.
