A deputy state secretary at Hungary’s Ministry of Rural and Settlement Development has resigned after only around two months in the position, citing personal reasons. The announcement immediately triggered a political exchange, with Fidesz MP Miklós Panyi suggesting the departure points to problems within the new Tisza government.
Rural and Settlement Development Minister Dr Viktória Lőrincz announced the resignation on Sunday afternoon, stressing that there was nothing extraordinary about the decision.
Deputy state secretary cites personal reasons
According to Lőrincz, the deputy state secretary submitted their resignation because of a change in their personal circumstances.
“There is nothing extraordinary about this; we will soon arrange for the departing colleague to be replaced,”
the minister said in a Facebook post.
Lőrincz also rejected speculation that internal disagreements at the ministry were behind the resignation. She accused Fidesz of attempting to build conspiracy theories around the departure and said the ministry would not comment on what she described as baseless claims, out of respect for its employees’ private lives.
She also called on opposition politicians not to spread what she described as false information about people working in public administration.
Fidesz MP claims leaders are already leaving
The minister’s comments came shortly after Fidesz MP Miklós Panyi published his own post about the resignation.
Panyi claimed that the official had started working at the ministry at the end of June and that their departure would take effect on 1 September. He described the ministry as one of the “most incompetent” departments of the Tisza government and suggested that the resignation reflected wider problems within the new administration.
The Fidesz politician also claimed that several government officials, including chiefs of staff and deputy state secretaries, had left their positions after only a few weeks. Panyi characterised the latest departure as a sign that officials were already “fleeing” what he called the “Tisza government’s authoritarian government”.
He also questioned why a supposedly committed and competent senior official would leave a well-paid position so soon after taking it up.
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Minister rejects claims of a crisis
Lőrincz, however, said the resignation should not be interpreted as evidence of a crisis within the ministry. She maintained that the official’s decision was based on personal circumstances and reiterated that a replacement would be appointed shortly.
The departure comes roughly two months after the official joined the ministry. The resignation is expected to take effect on 1 September. At this stage, neither the identity of the departing deputy state secretary nor further details about the personal reasons cited for the resignation have been publicly disclosed.
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