Why did Katalin Novak resign? All you need to know about Hungary's first female President amid child abuse case scandal

On Saturday, February 10, Hungarian President Katalin Novak stepped down from her position on live television due to the immense criticism mounting over her for issuing a presidential pardon to a man who was convicted of covering up child s*xual abuse.

As per the BBC, Hungarian news outlets revealed last week that the former president had issued pardon to the deputy director of a state-run children's home who was serving three years for covering up the abuse scandal. The deputy director had forced kids to take back their abuse claims against the director.

Apart from Novak, former Justice Minister Judit Varga, who approved the presidential pardon, also resigned from her position as a lawmaker due to the controversy. Katalin Novak was also a very close ally of Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, who has held onto the position since 2010.

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Katalin Novak was the first female president of Hungary

Katalin Eva Veresne Novak made history when she became the first woman president in Hungary's history in March 2022. She was also the youngest president of the country after being elected at the age of 44. A close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, prior to becoming President of the country, she served as his former family minister from 2020 to 2021.

Novak began her political career in 2001, specializing in European matters and the European Union at the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, later becoming a ministerial advisor in 2010 and the Head of Cabinet of the Ministry of Human Resources in 2012. Prior to being the family minister, Novak also held the position of State Secretary for Family and Youth Affairs.

She also served as vice president of Orban's conservative political party Fidesz between 2017 and 2021.

Katalin Novak studied economics at the Corvinus University of Budapest and law at the University of Szeged. She also studied abroad at the Paris Nanterre University.

As per Telex, she is married to Istvan Veres, who is the director of the Financial Market and Foreign Exchange Market Directorate at the Hungarian National Bank. They share three children.

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"I made a mistake": Katalin Novak on pardoning a man who tried to cover up child abuse

As per Reuters, in April 2023, prior to Pope Francis’s visit, 25 convicted people were issued a presidential pardon. Last week, Hungarian media released the names of the people who were pardoned, one of whom was the deputy director of a state-run children's home in Budapest. The deputy director was jailed for three years for covering up child abuse. The director of the children’s home, who assaulted the children, is serving an 8-year sentence.

Katalin Novak issuing the man a pardon led to a huge uproar and fueled protests across the country, with many citizens and members of Hungarian opposition parties asking for her resignation.

The pressure from the presidential pardon controversy had boiled over completely for Hungary's President, Katalin Novak, who ended up resigning from her position on Saturday after surprisingly returning to Budapest after cutting short a Qatar visit. She announced her decision in an unexpected live state television address, where she apologized to those victims who felt that she did not stand up for them.

According to CNN, Katalin Novak claimed that the decision to pardon the children's home deputy director was based on the belief that the man did not exploit the "vulnerability" of the kids under his watch. The former president said:

"I made a mistake ... Today is the last day that I address you as a president. I made a decision to grant a pardon last April believing that the convict did not abuse the vulnerability of children whom he had overseen."

Novak, who is now temporarily replaced by Parliament Speaker Laszlo Kover, added:

“I made a mistake, as the pardon and the lack of reasoning were conducive to triggering doubts about the zero tolerance that applies to pedophilia.”

As per Reuters, the former minister of justice, Judit Varga, who co-signed the pardon, also announced her resignation. Varga had resigned from her role as Justice Minister to lead the campaign for the Fidesz party's European Parliament elections. She said:

"I resign from public life, I resign my mandate as a lawmaker and also the top position on the European party list."

Both Novak and Varga were prominent members of Hungary's long-term ruling conservative nationalist party, the Fidesz party. The resignation was a huge setback for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as Varga was due to head the Fidesz list in the European elections in June.