Scandal over presidential child sex abuse pardon rocks Orban’s Hungary

Issued on: 14/02/2024 – 16:00

3 min

Hungary‘s President Katalin Novak and former Justice Minister Judit Varga — the ruling Fidesz party’s most prominent women — stepped down on Saturday over the pardoning of a convicted child abuser’s accomplice.

With June’s local and European elections approaching fast, Orban has been facing rare public anger, including from government insider and Varga’s ex-husband Peter Magyar, who railed against the premier’s system of power.

Since returning to power in 2010 “no political scandal has had such a rapid and severe political impact,” the Political Capital think-tank said in a report. 

“What makes these events extraordinary is that one controversy leads to another and the government is simply unable to put an end to it,” the institute’s analyst Robert Laszlo told AFP.

Corruption and cronyism 

Following the surprise resignations, Peter Magyar, who has held several senior positions in state companies, took to social media to heap further criticism on ruling Fidesz politicians.

“I do not for one minute want to be part of a system in which the real culprits hide behind women’s skirts,” he wrote on Facebook, announcing his withdrawal from two public companies.

On Sunday evening, Magyar upped the ante by giving a lengthy interview to the Partizan YouTube channel, one of the few remaining independent media outlets that’s not dominated by pro-government voices.

In the video, which has garnered more than 1.6 million views on the platform, Magyar criticised endemic corruption in Hungary.

He decried the enormous wealth Viktor Orban‘s inner circle had accumulated over the years, as Brussels has frozen billions of euros amid suspicions that European funds were being misused.  

“It must be said now that this cannot go on,” said Magyar, questioning whether it was “normal” that “a few families own half the country?”.

He also took aim at Orban’s powerful cabinet chief Antal Rogan, calling him Fidesz’s “Cardinal Richelieu”, whom he claimed had almost total control over the government’s communication, much like the French 17th century royal advisor.

Magyar did not immediately respond to a request for comment by AFP.

An Orban spokesperson said “the government does not concern itself with the desperate attempts of people in hopeless situations”, without providing further information. 

Solid foundations 

Orban has not publicly addressed the controversy for nearly a week while keeping a low profile on social media, with all eyes on his annual State of the Nation address scheduled for Saturday.

“The scandal has struck at the heart of the Orban government, which spent a considerable amount of money and energy to build a narrative around protecting children,” Policy Solutions institute head Andras Biro-Nagy told AFP.

The affair revealed that “it was a simply unacceptable and untenable story,” he added.

He said the public outrage was amplified by the fact that Novak — Hungary’s former Minister for Family Affairs — had been the face of “family-friendly” policies.

Despite the abrupt resignations, no explanation for the presidential pardon has so far been given.

Calvinist Bishop and adviser to Novak, Zoltan Balog, confirmed media reports that he had supported granting clemency to the former deputy director of a children’s home, who had helped cover up his boss’s sexual abuse of children in their charge.

Following last week’s demonstrations instigated by the opposition, well-known influencers have called for another rally to take place on Friday.

It remains to be seen whether Orban can quickly turn the page on the controversy.

“For the moment, it seems unlikely that Orban’s reputation among his supporters will be damaged,” Political Capital said in its report, given how solidly the nationalist leader has established his power.

But experts expect that the government will launch a further crackdown on the independent press that revealed the pardon scandal.

(AFP)