Hungary Prime Minister in a Fix over Mass Resignation
Massive resignation has become the biggest threat to Prime Minister Viktor Orban‘s rule since he returned to power in 2010.
Hungary has been shaken by the sudden resignations of the two most popular and successful women in an otherwise strongly male-dominated governing party.
President Katalin Novak and former Justice Minister Judit Varga have both taken responsibility for the decision to grant clemency to Endre K, former deputy director of a state orphanage.
Endre K was jailed for persuading children to withdraw their testimony against the director of the orphanage for sexual abuse.
The issue has become deeply problematic for a government that has made the protection of children and traditional family values the cornerstone of its policies.
Worst of all for Mr. Orban and his party, the departures of the two women have been followed by an avalanche of allegations about the way he runs the country.
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And this double resignation, coming amid increasing protests, has deprived Viktor Orban of two very different but essential allies.
President Novak radiated a mother-of-the-nation image, closely identified with popular policies to encourage couples to have more children.
She also promoted a more inclusive, less aggressive style than the prime minister in her largely symbolic role as head of state.
The tough-talking Judit Varga had been due to lead the governing Fidesz party into battle against the Brussels bureaucrats in the European elections in June.
Now she has resigned as an MP and withdrawn from public life.
Two other key figures have come under attack too – Mr Orban’s communications chief Antal Rogan, who is also in charge of the secret services, and Zoltan Balog, a Protestant bishop and personal adviser to the prime minister.
Mr Balog is alleged to have lobbied behind the scenes for the presidential clemency in the Endre K case. He has denied the allegation.
Within minutes of Judit Varga’s resignation, her ex-husband, powerful Fidesz insider Peter Magyar, announced: I do not want to be part of a system for a minute longer where the real culprits hide behind women’s skirts.
