Hungarian President Katalin Novak resigned after coming under mounting pressure to pardon a man convicted of helping to cover up sexual abuse in a children’s home.
The revelation caused a public uproar and demands from the opposition for her and former Justice Minister Judit Varga to quit. Varga, who has been a rising star in Orban’s ruling Fidesz party, resigned as a lawmaker on Saturday.
The scandal was a rare setback for Orban, who has been in power since 2010, and who faces European parliament elections just as the country emerges from an inflation crisis.
“I made a mistake … Today is the last day that I address you as a president,” Novak, whose role as president is largely ceremonial, said as she announced her resignation on state television. She cut short an official visit to Qatar and returned to Budapest unexpectedly.
“I made a decision to grant a pardon last April believing that the convict did not abuse the vulnerability of children whom he had overseen. I made a mistake as the pardon and the lack of reasoning was suitable to trigger doubts over the zero tolerance that applies to pedophilia,” she said.
This week, Hungarian opposition parties had demanded Novak’s resignation over the case and on Friday a thousand demonstrators rallied at Novak’s office calling for her to quit.
