Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is facing his biggest political crisis since returning to power in 2010, following the shock resignations of two close allies on Saturday over child sexual abuse allegations.
Hungarian President Katalin Novak and former Justice Minister Judit Varga, the most prominent women in the ruling Fidesz party, resigned on Saturday over the pardoning of an accomplice to a convicted child abuser.
As Hungary’s presidential and European elections approach in June, Orban is facing rare public scorn, and has been targeted by government insider and Varga’s ex-husband Peter Magyar, who has risen up against the prime minister’s system of power.
Since the return to power in 2010, “no political scandal has had such a concrete and serious political effect,” according to a report by the Political Capital think tank.
“What makes these events exceptional is that one controversy leads to another, and the government is simply unable to put an end to it,” their analyst Robert Laszlo explains to AFP.
Nepotism and corruption
After the unexpected resignations of two powerful women, Peter Magyar, who has held several high positions in state-owned companies, took to social media to criticize Fidesz’s leadership.
“I don’t want to be a part of a system in which the real culprits run for cover under women’s laps for even a minute,” he wrote on Facebook and announced his withdrawal from two public companies.
On Sunday evening, Magyar went a step further with a lengthy interview for YouTube channel Partizan, one of the few remaining independent media outlets that does not dance to the government’s tune.
In the published video, which has collected more than 1.6 million views, Magyar criticizes the endemic corruption in Hungary.
He condemned the enormous wealth that Viktor Orbán’s inner circle has accumulated over the years, while Brussels is freezing billions of euros due to suspicions that European funds are being misused.
“Now is the time to say that it can’t go on like this,” Magyar is determined, wondering if it is “normal” that “a few families own half the country?”.
He also took aim at powerful Orbán cabinet chief Antal Rogan, calling him Fidesz’s “Cardinal Richelieu”, who he claims has almost total control over government communications, likening him to a 17th-century French royal adviser.
Magyar has not yet responded to AFP’s request for comment.
Orbán’s spokesman said “the government is not worried about the desperate attempts of hopeless people,” without giving further details.
Solid foundations
Orban has not commented on the scandal for almost a week, and is silent on social media as well, while all eyes are on his annual State of the Nation address scheduled for Saturday.
“The scandal has hit the backbone of the Orbán government, which has spent a considerable amount of money and energy building a reputation as a protector of children,” Policy Solutions institute director Andras Biro-Nagy told AFP.
He said public anger was fueled by the fact that former president Novak, also a former Hungarian family minister, was the face of “family-centric” policies.
Despite the sudden resignations, no explanation has yet been offered for the presidential pardon.
Calvinist bishop and adviser to the president, Zoltan Balog, confirmed media reports that he supported the pardon of the former deputy director of the children’s home, who helped cover up the director’s sexual abuse of children.
After last week’s opposition-instigated protests, influential activists called for another rally on Friday.
The question remains whether Orban can reverse this trend quickly enough.
“Currently, it does not seem likely that Orbán’s reputation among supporters will be damaged,” Political Capital said in its report, given how firmly the nationalist leader has established his power.
But experts expect the government to launch a further crackdown on the independent press that uncovered the pardon scandal.
