Hungary Elects New President as Predecessor Resigns Amid 'Pedophilia Scandal'
The Hungarian parliament voted last night to appoint Tamás Sulyok, the head of the country's Constitutional Court, as the new president, Világgazdaság reports.
The 67-year-old lawyer is the seventh head of state of democratic Hungary. Tamás Sulyok was the only candidate for the presidency proposed by the Fidesz party of pro-Russian Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Tamás Sulyok was voted in favour of the presidency by 134 members of the Hungarian parliament, with five against.
An important detail is that Tamás Sulyok was elected president of the republic in record time. The last time a similar situation occurred was more than a decade ago, when the incumbent president of the republic (then Pal Schmitt) failed to fulfil his mandate. He resigned on 2 April 2012, and a month later, the parliament elected his successor, Janos Ader. In other words, there was a one-month deadline.
But this time it took just over two weeks after Katalin Novak resigned on Saturday, 10 February. Her successor, Tamás Sulyok, was elected on Monday, 26 February. In other words, Szándor's palace remained empty for only a few weeks.
The previous president of Hungary, Katalin Novak, announced her resignation after public outrage following the publication of the presidential pardon of Endre K., convicted in the case of the paedophile Bitske. Her official statement on the matter was adopted by the parliament on Monday, and the representatives also decided on the identity of his successor.
According to Katalin Novak's final asset declaration, her financial position has not changed since January.
As a former president of the Republic, Katalin Novak can, according to the law, receive a presidential allowance for the rest of her life, but as Gergely Gulyas noted in a previous Government Information, if the former head of state takes a job anywhere, her presidential allowance will cease. By the way, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office has made sure that Katalin Novak will soon be able to work somewhere.