Hungary’s New President Elected After Scandal

Written by Sophie Ritzenthaler | March 14 2024

Katalin Novak

Earlier this year the president of Hungary, Katalin Novak, resigned after a scandal involving the pardon of a man implicated in assisting in covering up a sexual abuse case in a children’s home. Novak has been president since 2022 and in her largely ceremonial role she was a staunch and loyal ally to Prime Minister Viktor Oban. After President Novak’s pardon of the criminal there was public outrage as an array of sex scandals among politicians in the prime minister’s political party, Fidesz, have begun to surface. This resignation is predicted to have little effect on Prime Minister Obran’s grip on power but places another hit on the political party’s reputation. In light of this incident, there was an amendment proposed to Hungary’s constitution that would prevent future pardons like this from being granted. 

After the flurry of Novak’s resignation died down, Hungary’s parliament elected a new president last week. Head of the Constitutional Court, Tamas Sulyok, was elected to replace the first female president of Hungary. The parliament’s ruling coalition of the Fidesz and Christian Democratic People’s Party approved Sulyok’s appointment and he officially took the role of president on March 5. President Sulyok’s first action as the newly installed president was signing the law to allow Sweden to join NATO. Hungary was the last country needed to approve Sweden’s admission into NATO. With a new president in office, will the reputation of Hungary’s Fidesz party be back on track?