Brussels – Hungary has a new President following the child sexual abuse scandal that led to the resignation of the now-former head of state, Katalin Novák. The National Assembly in Budapest yesterday afternoon (Feb. 26) – following the decisive vote on the ratification of Sweden’s protocol of accession to NATO – appointed Tamas Sulyok, the Constitutional Court chief, as Hungary’s new President to end the political crisis that throughout February threatened to overwhelm the power system of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Being able to count on two-thirds of the deputies in Parliament, the Fidesz-led governing coalition easily gave the green light to the appointment of Sulyok, who has already been sworn in and will become President of Hungary on Tuesday (March 5). Sulyok has been a judge of the Constitutional Court since 2014 and became its President two years later. In his post-election speech as head of state, he promised transparency in his decisions on pardons, even though opposition parties have criticized his appointment since Sulyok has no political experience and because – despite the office being purely ceremonial – the protesters’ demands for the direct election of the President of the Republic have not been heeded.
The presidential pardon scandal in Hungary
From left: former President of Hungary, Katalin Novák, and European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen (Jan. 15, 2024)
Over the past few weeks – and particularly last weekend – tens of thousands of people in the country’s major cities strengthened their protests against the power system that was responsible for the child sexual abuse scandal. It all stemmed from the pardon granted by the now former-president Novák and supported by the resigning Justice Minister Judit Varga to the deputy director of a state orphanage jailed for covering up a series of child sexual abuses at the facility. The pardon was granted last year, but the news only became public knowledge in recent weeks, sparking public outrage.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (credits: Szilard Koszticsak / Pool / Mti / Afp)
Public pressure forced the resignation of those directly responsible and close allies of Orbán, even though street demonstrations did not subside. “The year 2024 could not have started in a worse way. Our President of the Republic has submitted her resignation to Parliament. This is like a nightmare, and it is taking a toll on us all,” the Hungarian premier said in his State of the Union speech on Saturday (Feb. 17). “We must submit to the National Assembly a new legislative package on child protection” Orban, who is now at risk politically, promised. Not so much for the government’s survival — in Parliament, the majority is not in doubt, and elections are in 2026 — but rather for the prospects of a strengthening Fidesz in the next legislature in Brussels, should he fail to recover from this misstep in time for the European elections in June.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
