Hungary's President Resigns Over Sex Abuse Pardon Scandal

Facts

• Hungarian Pres. Katalin Novak announced her resignation in a televised address on Saturday amid public outrage over a pardon she granted to a man convicted in a sexual abuse case at a state-run children's home.¹
• Novak, the first female president of Hungary, acknowledged that she had 'made a mistake' and issued an apology stating 'the pardon granted and the lack of explanation may have given rise to doubts about zero tolerance of paedophilia.'²
• A former family minister, Novak also apologized to all the victims 'who might have felt that I did not stand up for them,' adding that she had always 'consistently advocated for the protection of children and families.'³
• As part of Pope Francis's visit to Hungary in April 2023, Novak had pardoned at least two dozen people, including Endre K, the deputy director of a children's home sentenced in 2022 to three years and four months in prison for covering up for its director's crimes.⁴
• However, opposition parties' demands for her resignation grew only after her presidential pardon was reported by a local news website last week. On Friday, at least 1K people protested in Budapest, calling for Novak to step down.⁵
• Meanwhile, soon after Novak's resignation, Judit Varga, the justice minister at the time of the pardon, quit as a lawmaker and announced she was withdrawing from public life over the scandal.⁶

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²NDTV.com, ³CNN, ⁴Al Jazeera, ⁵POLITICO and ⁶Reuters.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by New York Times. Novak is an outspoken champion of family values and would never pardon crimes committed against children. However, it's clear she made a mistake in freeing a pedophile in the belief that the convict didn't abuse the vulnerability of the children entrusted to him. The president must be applauded for making a responsible decision.
• Narrative B, as provided by France 24. Even if Novak's role was essentially ceremonial, she could have been vigilant before granting a pardon to a man implicated in a child sexual abuse case. However, it's evident that the close ally of Hungary's authoritarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, is made a scapegoat to calm national anger. No important decisions are taken in the country without the conservative leader's approval.

Predictions