Saturday, February 10, 2024 – Hungarian President, Katalin Novak on Saturday, February 10, announced her resignation following a controversy that trailed her decision to pardon a man convicted of covering up a child abuse case in a children's home.
The pardon decision was made last year but only caught the
public’s attention over the past days after a report by the local news site
444.hu, which was met with outrage, leading Hungary’s opposition to call for
Katalin Novak to step down.
Protests calling for her to step down had been growing in
Hungary. Ms Novak apologised and said she made "a mistake" in
granting the pardon. “I made a mistake,” Novak said in a televised address
aired on Saturday, when she announced her resignation and issued an apology to
any victims who felt she had not stood with them.
Novak who became president in 2022, also branded
herself as a family-focused Christian conservative politician.
Judit Varga, the former minister of justice who approved the
pardon, has also resigned from her new role leading the European elections
campaign for Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz party.
Novak is a popular figure in Fidesz and a rare female
politician in a male-dominated country. She is a key ally of Mr Orban and
previously worked as his family minister. In 2022, she became the first woman
to hold the largely ceremonial role of Hungarian president.
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