Hungary’s political scene is still reverberating from the resignation of two prominent Fidesz politicians in the biggest scandal rocking the ruling nationalist party since former party cashier Lajos Simicska turned against Prime Minister Viktor Orban in 2015.  

The presidential pardon of  Endre Konya, deputy director at a  children's home in Bicske, not far from Orban’s home village, who actively covered up a series of paedophile cases at the home,  has led to unprecedented outrage and a rare unity across political lines.

President Katalin Novak announced her resignation on Saturday and former Justice Minister Judit Varga, leader of Fidesz EP list, who also approved the pardon, withdrew from public life.

Orban attempted to quell public outcry by sacrificing the two aspiring and talented women politicians, but it was mostly damage control as he tried to distance himself from the crisis, which could dominate public discourse for weeks if not months. This is bad news for the prime minister, who is facing increasing pressure abroad.

On Monday, new details emerged about the clemency request, while an interview with the ex-husband of Varga is causing a stir. Peter Magyar, a  Fidesz loyalist and cadre threatened to disclose compromising information about leading Fidesz politicians.

According to investigative news site Direkt36, Zoltan Balog, the head of the Hungarian Reformed Church and a former cabinet minister, who also served as an adviser to the former president, pushed for granting the pardon to Konya, who was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in prison for pressuring victims to retract their claims of sexual abuse by the institution's director, sentenced to eight years for abusing at least 10 children between 2004 and 2016.

Balog reportedly defended the move, saying he was pressured by people within the Reformed Church leadership, who lobbied for a pardon for Konya, who has strong family connections to the reformist church and its leaders.

Novak worked as a state secretary in the Ministry of Human Resources led by Balog between 2012 and 2018 and was a protégée of his, giving Balog  considerable influence in the Sandor palace, (President’s Office) after Novak became the first female head of state in 2022. According to a close associate of Novak, she would do everything for him.

On Monday night, independent 444.hu, which broke the story on February 2, reported that Balog arranged a meeting between Novak and Konya's wife before the presidential pardon. Balog has had a long-standing acquaintance with Konya, going back to the early 2010s and his wife filed for the pardon plea and asked Balog to intermediate.

The prime minister expects Balog to take responsibility for his involvement in the case and the former minister will have to retire from public life, a senior Fidesz politician told 444.hu.

Balog informed the press that he would come out with a press release on February 13.

Opposition parties are calling on Orban to explain whether he knew about the presidential pardon. Observers say that the prime minister must have known the procedure after it was countersigned by Varga.

Fidesz communication is working around the clock to distance the prime ministe from the story.

In the meantime revelations of Varga's ex-husband about the operation of the Orban regime is causing headache to government communication.

Peter Magyar gave an interview to Hungary's leading YouTuber news channel, Partizan and in less than 24 hours the interview hit the 1mn mark.

In the interview, Magyar claimed that as justice minister, her ex-wife opposed the clemency but was told to sign the document by people close to Orban, but he did not give names. He hinted however that Antal Rogan, head of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, who is in charge of propaganda and oversees Hungary’s intelligence services, could have played a part.

Magyar has other bold statements shedding light on some inside information. The coming out of a leading Fidesz cadre can be compared to the bombshell outburst by Lajos Simicska,  Orban’s college dormitory friend who turned against the prime minister in 2015.

Magyar, describing himself as a conservative and loyal Fidesz supporter since 2002, said that the Orban regime is not as strong as it seems from outside and change must come from inside. He said many people within the party are also fed up with excess power in the hands of  Rogan, whom he called a Richelieu and said that it would serve the country if he left. According to Magyar, it is untenable that a handful of families control much of Hungary’s wealth.

Magyar was the head of the Student Loan Centre, a member of the boards of directors of state-owned companies and a member of the supervisory board of MBH Bank.

He recalled that he was called to the Carmelite monastery, home of Orban’s office, when he was about to separate with Varga and was asked not to do "anything foolish".

Magyar also noted that after he refused to sign a centralised communication contract with the winning company close to the inner circles of Rogan, the secret services raided his office and confiscated his computer and mobile phone.

Varga's ex-husband said that Rogan leaked his house purchase to divert attention from a controversial land purchase by Rogan’s third wife, which was thwarted after the press reported.

He also hinted that current scandal was a good pretext to remove Varga and Novak from the scene, who could have been potential candiates to follow Orban after he retired from politics.

When asked whether he had compromising information, he paused for a second but did not deny it.

He conveyed a message to the propaganda minister saying: "If I were Antal Rogan, I would be very careful not to harm Peter Magyar."

Italian-Hungarian historian Stefano Bottoni, who wrote a book on Orban, said Magyar’s coming out is a declaration of war on the Orban regime.

The question is whether Magyar had consulted with his ex-wife before going public and whether he will make some kind of revelations about the regime, as both he and Varga know a lot about how the system works, he added.