Hungarian President resigns after pardoning paedophile helper
Hungarian President Katalin Novák resigned this afternoon, saying she committed a mistake by pardoning Endre K. last April. The former Hungarian Justice Minister and number one on Fidesz’s electoral list for the European Parliament, Judit Varga, also resigned today as an MP and chairwoman of the Parliament’s European Affairs Committee. Varga countersigned the presidential pardon last April.
President Katalin Novák announced her resignation today after 5 PM in a video recording shared by the Hungarian public broadcaster M1. She said it was an honour for her to serve Hungarians as president because she loves Hungary and the Hungarians living in Hungary or beyond its borders.
She said she committed a mistake by pardoning a paedophile helper last April. She added she would never grant clemency to anybody who harmed a child physically or emotionally. “Protecting children is our common responsibility”, she added. She asked for the forgiveness of those whom she offended by the presidential pardon. We wrote about the issue HERE.
Here is the video but Novák does not allow you to comment on it:
PM Orbán will choose the next President
Katalin Novák was elected Hungary’s president in May 2022. She could have remained in office until 2027, and the Hungarian constitution would have allowed her another term.
It was PM Viktor Orbán’s idea to elect her as the first female President of Hungary. Before, she served as a secretary of state and minister of the Orbán cabinet responsible for families. Furthermore, she was a deputy leader of Fidesz. She was an extremely popular Hungarian politician, her approval index before the scandal reached even 60%. However, after the scandal broke out, some polls showed that more than 70% of the Hungarians said she should resign.
The next President will be elected by the Hungarian National Assembly. Since PM Orbán has a supermajority in the parliament, there is no question that he will choose the next Hungarian president. Meanwhile, some opposition parties suggest people should choose the president of Hungary, but the government parties do not support the idea.
The former justice minister also resigns
Interestingly, another Fidesz politician had to resign due to the scandal. Judit Varga was a Justice Minister of Hungary before, but later, the corruption scandal of the former head of Hungary’s branch of bailiffs and former state secretary Pál Völner broke out. Afterwards, she became head of the Parliament’s European Affairs Committee.
Fidesz said she would lead their party list for the 9 June European Parliament elections. Now, she announced her resignation from public life. That means she will no longer be a member of the parliament either.
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11 Comments
Harry Houdini, could NOT have escaped this one.
Right has Been Done.
Varga has done Right Honourable.
She should be applauded afforded respect for her RIGHTFUL decision.
Varga, mentioning those she had offended by her Presidential Pardon – delivered with Candour.
Quote of St. Christopher:
” Do not be discouraged by the trials/challenges you face; they will make you stronger in the end.”
I do apologize to readers.
In my commentary titled ” Right has been Done” incorrectly I used the name Varga.
This should have been – Novak, the former President of Hungary.
The pardon was last…… APRIL??????
I would have thought it was last week…. this seems very suspicious. Why did this only become an issue a couple of days ago? Why does Orban want to get rid of Novak?
Who lobbied Novak to pardon this man? Who sent a list of names for pardons to Novak? Was it Orban?
“I don’t want for one minute to be a part of a system in which the real people responsible hide behind women’s skirts,” – Peter Varga (Judit Varga’s ex-husband). So – someone told Novak who to pardon. The “real people responsible” are hiding behind Novak and Varga’s skirts. IS VIKTOR ORBAN THE PERSON WHO TOLD NOVAK TO PARDON THE PAEDOPHILE PROTECTOR. It is highly likely as he is Prime Minister and asserts his control over everything. Then VIKTOR ORBAN MUST RESIGN.
This was a big fault on her part and kudos to her for resigning. It’s pretty incredible, though, that this story blew up almost a year after the act happened though. Why was everyone, government AND opposition, sitting on this for so long?!?
cliff arroyo – Are you suspicious she may have been “back dooring ” him ?
‘Beware not the enemy from without – but the enemy from within.”
She is a liar, she of course knew that she pardoned someone who had tried to do harm to children. Where are the other pedophile enablers hiding inside the Orban governement? They tired to smear gay people but where just covering up for their friends. Lets not fall for their “protecting children” misdirection any longer. We have serious problems. The voters should not forget this.
Women, as naturally agreeable, emotional and altruistic creatures, inherently unable to seperate feelings from pragmatism, must be strictly forbidden to be in politics or for that matter, to exercise any power in public life, outside of the family home! This first ever FEMALE President of Hungary is a perfect example of how women, granted political power, destroy Nations! (Regretfully, she is/was not the only female political leader of a European Nation! Under PM Meloni, Italy has seen and is seeing record levels of third-world immigration invasion!) Hopefully Hungary has learnt its lesson! I mean, a President pardoning a pedophile or its helper ………………???!!! 🤦♂️
@Johnny wow.. really. I feel sorry for the women in your life.
Yes, She did the correct thing, stepping down.
Politicians taking ownership and even apologizing. That is pretty novel, and admirable. Arguably, women with a backbone, which is more than can be said of many of their male colleagues!
Question is if they jumped or if they were pushed (Mr. Orbán´s statements may hold a clue), nevertheless they did the right thing.
The second, important question (I agree with @Larry, above) is how this pardoned person managed his way onto the short list???