The uproar over Hungary’s now-resigned president pardoning a man convicted of covering up a child sexual abuse scandal at a boarding school risks hurting his government Viktor Orbanwhich emphasizes its commitment to family and Christian values.
The veteran prime minister has tried to defuse the situation, but first the scandal forced the resignation within a week of two of his key political allies – President Katalin Novak and former Justice Minister Judith Varda.
But the most difficult period of her 14 years in power is not over, with her media Hungary continue to extensively cover the scandal and well-known influencers have announced a protest the day following Friday.
The unrest does not pose an immediate threat to his government, with the next parliamentary election scheduled for 2026, but it comes just months before June’s European elections, in which his party hopes to make gains by capitalizing on the rise of the far right across the country. Europe.
Hungary: Orban is expected to recover from the scandal
The scandal helped “expose the ideological underbelly of supposed family values and conservative purity,” comments Roger Hilton, a researcher at the GLOBSEC think tank.
“If this continues to be revealed gradually, there lies the real danger to Orbán’s survival,” he continues, noting, however, that the Hungarian prime minister will probably recover from the scandal.
Orban’s Fidesz party tried to deflect the debate following Novak’s resignation on Saturday, stressing that there are consequences for mistakes made by its officials, unlike what happens in the opposition.
But the media and the opposition have not let the matter be forgotten and are now looking for the motives behind the presidential pardon which was granted in April 2023, but was first reported on February 2 by the news website 444.hu.
Orban has not made a public statement since Thursday and has not commented on the two resignations. His annual State of the Country address is scheduled for Saturday, during which he will present the government’s agenda for 2024.
“The prime minister has already expressed his opinion on the issue of the pardon. The government is continuing its work as normal,” government spokesman Bertalan Havasi said in an email to Reuters.
Orban submitted to parliament last week a constitutional amendment banning pardons for crimes committed once morest children. This was interpreted by political analysts as a clear message to Novak, who resigned two days later.
Judith Varga, the former Hungarian justice minister who signed the pardon, resigned as a Fidesz MP and “retired from public life”.
Varga, a close ally of Orbán, was expected to head Fidesz’s European ballot. Now it is not clear who will take her place.
Christian values
Orbán presents himself as a defender of Christian values once morest European liberalism. He stresses that he wants to protect children from the activists of the LGBTI+ community who, he says, roam the schools: one of the many issues over which he has clashed with the European Commission.
According to iefimerida, the revelation of the pardon has sparked public outrage and nine influencers, among them the highly popular singer Azahriah, have called for a protest on Friday.
“Regardless of political sides, we believe it is important to speak out for the protection of (abuse) victims, for transparency, human dignity and honest public dialogue,” the influencers wrote on Facebook.
“How many other similar issues are there that we know nothing regarding and that have been covered up,” they wondered.
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